After The Fall

Burying a Daughter

It took Ken, Felix, and Jack a almost a week to get back home, as they figured it would. What they saw when they got home surprised them. They're welcomed by the disfigured body of a woman and a few dead Infected in the yard. The three friends exchange worried glances before Ken takes charge as always and leads the group over to the house, worried something might have happened to the friends they left behind. Jack helps Felix steer the cart as its having trouble moving through the grass and Ken brandishes his knife, just in case.

He goes up to the door and finds it locked, he takes that as a good sign. He knocks, calling out, "Mark, you there? It's us, we're back!"

He waits, looking back at Felix and Jack. He helps them get the cart up the porch steps and then the door open. Ken looks back and smiles upon seeing Mark. His smile falls into a confused frown at the sad look on Mark's face. His eyes narrow lightly and he turns fully to his friend, "Mark? What's wrong?"

"We.." Mark looks away, scratching the back of his head, "Something's happened..?"

"Stephanie?" Ken asks, concerned, "Her baby?"

Mark gestures for him to follow as he makes his way around the cart and down the steps. Ken frowns but follows as Felix gets the cart inside and Jack helps him unload the stuff they've brought home. Mark leads Ken around to the back of the house, taking a deep breath. Ken watches him, worried but he's at least a little happy to see Mark's limp is getting better. Mark opens the basement door slowly and Ken wrinkles his nose at the stench that comes from it. 

Mark shivers and Ken frowns, "Mark? What's going on? What's down there?"

Mark turns back to him, "Just.. Wait here, okay?"

Ken stares at him even more confused, growing increasingly worried, "Mark, seriously, what's going on?"

He lets out a shaky breath, "I'll explain everything.. In a minute."

He covers his nose and goes down into the basement. Ken stares after him, uneasy. He can see something is definitely bothering Mark, and it's bothering him. He doesn't want to let himself think up every worse case scenario, but with every second he stands there waiting for Mark to come back forces the thoughts into his head. His anxiety immediately spikes when Mark comes back up with a little body wrapped in a dirty blue tarp in his arms. It's suddenly very hard to breathe and his eyes are staring wide.

"M-Mark," he swallows thickly, his hands twitching and his body begins to tremble. He can't take his eyes off the tarp, "Wh-who's..?"

Mark sets the body down gingerly, staring up at Ken with sorrowful eyes. He speaks softly as tears come to his eyes, "Breathe slowly, Ken.. Just breathe for a minute, okay..?"

Ken shakes his head, tears welling in his eyes, "T-tell m-me.."

Mark looks down, his hand moves slower than he wants it to, but it's like he doesn't have the energy to unwrap the child lying inside. He swallows and pulls the flap of the tarp back. He lets it go and it drops to the ground, revealing only the child's face and neck. Ken drops to his knees, staring at her. Tears fall down his face and he starts sobbing uncontrollably. Mark looks at his friend as his own tears fall again as he watches his friend grieve for the little girl he cared so dearly for.

Felix and Jack come around after a few minutes, wondering what's keeping Mark and Ken. They both stop and gasp as the body of Mary-Jane comes into view. Felix shakes his head as his eyes begin to tear up. He turns away, wiping the tears from his eyes in an attempt not to cry. Jack stares at the child with sorrow, not bothering to try and stop himself from crying. She was just a child, life really isn't fair, is it?

They spend the next hour digging a grave for her, but Ken hasn't moved from his place beside her. He just sits there, staring at her. Mark looks over at him with sad recognition. It's almost the same thing he had done when Amy had stumbled out of the woods, no longer really living. Except Mark couldn't even bring himself to look at her back then. Ken really is the strongest of us. I hope this doesn't break him..

A little while later Nate joins them outside as they all say their goodbyes to the little child. Just as they're starting to bury her, a man shouts out to them, "Hey! Where's my sister and my daughter?! I know they were here!"

Mark's eyes widen and he's the first to turn around. There's a man standing beside the house, dark hair and pale eyes, holding a gun aimed at them. Angry tears falling slowly down his face. The others slowly turn and Nate and Mark exchange looks before Mark takes a step forward, holding his hands up in surrender, "Put the gun down and we'll talk, okay..?"

"No!" the man snarls, "Tell me where you're keeping them!"

"We're not holding anyone hostage." Nate states.

The man isn't wavering, "Liars! I know they're here, my sister told me she had my daughter and was on her way back!"

Mark speaks calmly, trying not to freak out inside or out, "They were here, but.. They're not anymore. We're not holding anyone hostage. Mary-Jane got sick, infected somehow."

The man stiffens, but doesn't interrupt. Mark continues, "We let the woman who came here for her take her. And then we.. Heard the screams. Your daughter had turned, and.."

He swallows thickly, his hands shake, "They're both dead."

The man's eyes widen, "So.. That body in the front.. That's.."

"I'm sorry." Mark nods sadly. He swallows again, "We're.. Burying Mary-Jane right now, if you'd like to.. Say your goodbyes."

Mark braces, expecting the gun to fire. He's shockingly surprised when the man drops the gun entirely. His anger quickly turns to anguish and he drops to his hands and knees, sobbing just as Ken had. Mark lets out a slow breath, at least happy this encounter didn't go terribly. Jack sniffles and walks over, gently putting a hand on the man's shoulder, "Come on.. Say goodbye to her."

Jack is able to lead the man over and once Mary-Jane is buried, the man apologizes for pointing a gun at them. He tells them he had been following them for awhile, and he apologizes for that, too. Ken offers to let him stay with them but he refuses, stating he has a group he has to get back to. They all bid farewell to the stranger and they all head back inside as night falls over the quiet little house. Mark leads Ken into Stephanie's room and introduces him to Oliver. 

Ken takes the baby from him gently and he takes the child to meet Felix and Jack. Mark looks back at Stephanie, hoping giving her some of his blood will help her fight off the infection that's trying to consume her. He walks over and grips her hand gently. He whispers softly to her before leaving the room to rejoin the others.

"Come on, Steph.. Pull through this.. For little Oliver."