We Don't Die

Resurrection

"What are you doing here, kiddo?" A voice calls out. Jeremiah regains his vision and notices a white sky. He looks up and spots Joel. "Uncle Joel?" He asks. "Mhm. The hell you doin' here?" He questions. "I have no idea." Jeremiah stands up. "Sit down, son." Joel says patting his hand on the seat. They stare below and see everyone contributing. "That's what I like to see from you, Jeremiah. You making sure they survive, you making sure you're their leader!" He says slapping his shoulder. Joel looks down at Jeremiah's leg. "Saw what happened back at the school." He says. Jeremiah looks down and his leg is fine. "Where am I?" He questions. Tim, Jeremiah's Dad, approaches them and sits next to them. "Dad?!" Jeremiah yells. He hugs Tim tightly. "Hey bud." He says. "I'm so sorry, Dad. I could have saved you. I could have protected you but I didn't.. I- I got you killed." Jeremiah begins to cry while holding his Dad. Tim places his hands on Jeremiah's cheeks and makes him face him. "You didn't have to do any of that. It was my responsibility as a parent to make sure my child, my son, my grown man to be safe. You didn't and weren't supposed to do anything but stay alive." He says firmly. The three of them look back down and notice Clementine crying over the loss of her loved one. "She loves you, kid." Joel says. "That girl would give anything for you to be safe." Tim steps in. "It hurts me to see her sad but it had to happen. I promised I would sacrifice myself to save her if I needed to and that was the time." Jeremiah responds. Tim and Joel look at Jeremiah. "It feels like it's ending." Jeremiah says quietly. "Like everything I worked hard for is ending. My life, ending. My happiness, ending." Jeremiah finishes. "Son." Tim begins while placing his hands on Jeremiah's shoulder. "It's not your time, yet. You still have more work to do, you have people that need you." He finishes. Jeremiah looks at Tim dead in the eyes. "I'm tired, father, I am." "They are, too, but they still work to create a more civilized life than what it started out to be. When it first happened, this world was shit. The dead rising to eat the living, making us lose our humanity, killing the living when we should be erasing the dead.. the human race almost went to extinction because of the dead." Tim says. "You can and you will change that." Joel says confidently. "Create that legacy that we will be proud of." Tim says and Jeremiah falls back down into Earth.

One Day Later

Jeremiah wakes up and looks around. He notices he's on shore. He quickly gets up and places his hands together and begins drinking the water. After he feels like he had enough to drink, he looks around. He gets up and instantly remembers his leg. Its gotten better, but hasn't fully healed. He walks up the hill and enters the woods. He looks to his right and spots the bridge with no walkers on it. The heat made him tired but he kept fighting. He continues to walk until his legs give in and he passes out.

Two Hours Later

Jeremiah wakes up and notices it's getting dark out. He pushes himself back up and he's on his feet, ready to go. He notices a good spot to sleep for the night and decides to stay there. He takes some string and ties it around some trees and begins looking for empty cans. With his luck, he found some and made his own home made alarm. He begins looking for logs. He searches all around the woods and finds some that'll do just fine. He sets them down and makes a circle out of the logs and places sticks and leaves inside the circle. He takes out a lighter and sticks it inside the pile of leaves and sticks. It begins burning and he gets warmed up. He decides to call it a night and heads to bed.

Morning

Jeremiah hears leaves and sticks cracking which instantly woke him up from his sleep. He gets up fast and hides behind a tree with a knife in his hand. He peeks over and notices two people, heading down to the river. He decides to stay hidden. "Find anything?" The voice calls out from below. "No, body must've floated somewhere down the stream." Another voice says. He waits for the voices to move further down so he can make his escape. They do so and Jeremiah carefully exits the woods, trying not to make sounds and draw attention. He's out on the open road and notices a rabbit. He gets on his knees and crouch walks to the rabbit. He pulls out his knife and plunges the blade into the rabbits skull. He sticks his knife in the belly and begins slicing. He takes his fingers and eats the insides. "Not another move." A voice says from behind. Jeremiah instantly feels a gun to the back of his head. He raises his hands. "The fuck you eatin'?" The voice asks. It's the sound of a woman's voice. The woman looks over Jeremiah's shoulder and notices a rabbit with its stomach ripped open. "Trying not to starve I see." She says. "On your feet, now." Jeremiah obliges and stands up. "Turn around. I want to see your face." She says. Jeremiah turns around and instantly recognizes her. "Oh my god." She says with wide opened eyes while lowering her gun. "Jeremiah, it's you?" She asks. "Diana?" He asks. She nods. "How did you-?" She cuts her question off. "The others think you're dead." She finishes. "Clementine.." Jeremiah says while looking down. "How is she doing? I doubt she took my sacrifice well." He says. "Heartbroken. She thinks you're dead too, along with AJ." This makes Jeremiah sad. "I- I gotta see them now. T-take me to them." He says. "I can't. Derek and Cory are looking for you and if they see you in the condition you're in, they'll mistake you for a walker and then you'll actually be dead." She says. "I won't tell anyone, just go." She whispers. "Where are they?" Jeremiah asks. "They're in the woods. Stationed at an wooden house. Should be about five minutes from here. Derek, AJ, Clem, Cory, they're there." He nods and sprints to the location.