All Hope Is Gone

A thin silver chain ending in a locket dangled from her wrist as her dirt and blood stained legs shook, even with that gun in her hand she knew it wouldn't be enough to save her. With few bullets left, she may as well put one to good use and blow her own brains out. It would save her the pain and agony of being torn to pieces by these things and the horror of becoming back as one, just like...shaking her head Anastasia pushed fresh thoughts from her mind and sucked in a deep breath of staling air while she forced her legs to stop shaking and to stay perfectly still inside the small metal cabinet she had barred herself into.
She squeezed her hazel eyes shut and blew a section of long dark brown hair from her face and mouthed hushes to herself.

“Merle!”

Anastasia's eyes flew open, had she just heard someone? Or was it her mind playing tricks once again on her like it had done so many times before?

“Merle!!”

Yes! Yes she did hear a real voice! Her stomach did a little flip as hope ignited itself once more in the pit of her belly.

“We aren't the only ones here...”

Another voice following the first one, she had to let them know she was here...but what about the things crawling around outside? If Anastasia shouted they would surely come scampering in to devour their share of human flesh. Huffing she tucked the gun into the top of her dark shorts and wiped a sweaty hand across the stomach of her ribbed singlet before gently pushing on the cabinet door. She said a quick prayer of thanks as the door opened with ease, but soon that prayer dissipated when Anastasia stepped out to come eye to eye with a sharp arrow.
A sharp intake of breath saw her raise her hands, “Don't shoot!”

The man holding the crossbow housing the arrow didn't budge, “Are ya bit?” his obviously Redneck accent asked.

“No,” she slowly shook her head hoping that would coax the man into lowering her weapon. Boy was she wrong.

“Daryl,” the second voice began to reason, “Put that down. Now.”

The man addressed as Daryl briefly looked to his side before lowering his arrow and took a step back.
Anastasia let out a breath she hadn't realised she had been holding during the tension and turned her face to the man with the voice of reason. He held out his hand, “I'm Rick.”

Anastasia took his hand with a shake as her mind quickly pulled itself together, “Anastasia.” She looked around the room and dropped Rick's hand. The building seemed empty of those undead things. It was almost serene, like a messy set concocted for some high fashion photo shoot. It was obvious the building had been an office in the previous world with papers still strewn about the room. There was a large printer off to the side that had been tipped over on it's side and a whole bunch of those cubicle walls with holes punched and shot through them. Above the cabinet she'd been hiding in was a light partially ripped from the ceiling.

Rick nodded, “That's Daryl. This is T-Dog,” he pointed to the dark skinned man standing behind him and finally turned to a young scrawny Asian lad, “And Glenn.”

She noted faces with names and put them to her memory bank for later, “What are you fellas doing out here? Didn't you know this place is death valley?”

“Yeah,” Daryl came across with pure aggression, “Out lookin' fer my brother, thanks ta this dickhead,” he gestured towards T-Dog, “Seen him?”

Anastasia raised her brow and scoffed, “Haven't seen a soul,” she lied.

“What were you doing in there?” asked Rick, she noticed his Sheriffs badge.

“Hiding, obviously. You're crazy for not doing the same,” her eyes furrowed and her head dropped as her insides began to fidget.

Daryl squinted his eyes while a feeling of doubt about this woman pitted itself with his insides, “Liar!”

Anastasia cocked her head and rolled her eyes, “Whatever boys,” she turned on her booted heel.

“Wait, Anastasia. Where are you going?”

She stopped, where was she going? There was no where to go, not now.
“It seems quiet at the moment so anywhere but here,” was the best answer she could offer for now.

Rick hesitated as he put a foot forward, “Listen, we have a camp not far from the City limits with food and good people....”

Anastasia turned to face Rick, “The last group of people I were with? They all turned. So while your gesture is nice and all, excuse me if I don't jump at the offer,” she turned to Daryl with a thought forming in her head, “Though while I am going to go out there, I can help look for your brother?”

It was Daryl's turn to scoff, “A woman-”

“-Hey, for all I care that brother you're looking for can rot. I just offered.”

Truth was Anastasia was dying to leave this city and the horror she had been forced to take part in hours before, the blood still fresh over her skin and clothing, the smell stuck in her nostrils. But taking up camp with a group of people again? A group is what got her into trouble to start with. They came with so many issues. Ranks to follow and people to care for other than yourself, it was just a whole mess of things to worry about.
But if these people could just get her out of the city safely even with those creatures lurking around outside, it was worth a shot.

“We would really appreciate that,” Rick stepped in, yet again.

Nodding she looked around her with a sigh and patted down her clothes while looking around. “I put that thing down somewhere,” her eyes landed on a long serrated blade near the cabinet. “There you are,” she made one stretched out gesture and snapped it up in her hand. “Alright I guess this is us moving on out?”



Making their way around the City wasn't going to be easy but as they crept on Anastasia learnt they weren't only looking for Daryl's brother but they were also on a mission to pick up a bag of guns and ammo that Sheriff Rick had so graciously left lying around with the walkers. That extra bit of information almost had Anastasia walk right back into her cabinet and lock the metal door behind her. But it was either chance this guys and get out of the city or stay and have no other options but to kill herself or be killed by those creatures.

A silent huff left her nostrils as she made her final decision.

“So the group you were with were all infected?” T-Dog asked as Glenn poured over a plan for the claiming of the gun bag.
They stood around looking down at a map and listening to where Glenn knew the safest routes to be, after all he was an ex-pizza delivery boy and knew where he was going.

“Yup, one by one they dropped like flies and rose up again,” quietly she hardened her mind and emotions, forcing back tears that began to form in her eyes.

T-Dog's eyes stuck on her for a moment before shifting as Glenn began to divulge his plan to sneak into the street for the bag as each of them took a post to cover him.
Anastasia ran a thumb over the locket still attached to her wrist and nodded as they ran over it again, remembering her post across from Daryl and Glenn.

Glenn let out a heavy breath, “Alright.”

The stench of walker wafted heavily through the streets as each person took their spot and readied themselves for the worst possible outcome of this more than foolish plan. But as Glenn's idea began to run smoothly the thoughts of how stupid and reckless it was began to melt away.

A sigh of relief left Anastasia as she saw him grab the bag and begin towards Rick and T-Dog. This was going t work, this was actually going to work! Soon she would be out of the city limits and just that much more safer and away from the place where the darkest hour of her life had taken place.
Anastasia could feel a beacon of fresh hope bloom in her chest, she needed this. She needed out of here. But soon that feeling of hope quickly turned back to anxiety. “Damnit,” she hissed as walkers cut him off, forcing Glenn back to Daryl.
The sudden sound of car tires screeching towards them echoed through the street and shouting reached Anastasia from where Daryl was behind a gate.
Glenn was barely at the gate when a small group of burly men exited the car. One grabbing hold of Glenn while the other took up their bag of guns.
“Shit, shit, shit!” Anastasia watched as her chance of getting the hell of out this valley of death began to slip away.
No this wasn't going to happen!
Sucking down every bit of fear that had surfaced as she watched the walkers creep out on the road she felt the need to do something greater than that. Her legs carried her from the spot she was allocated and quickly passed a walker and towards two large men packing Glenn into a car. “Hey!” Anastasia's voice shook, but she gulped down on her dry throat. Her husband had always said the most important thing was to never show your fear to the enemy and as these words stuck in her head she repeated her words. "Hey!" This time her voice was stronger and caught their attention.

One man turned to her voice but the sound of the shuffling undead was fast approaching and neither party wanted to be out there any longer. From the gate Daryl called to her catching Anastasia's attention for that split second. A split second in which it took for the man to close the distance on the road between them and ball up a thick fist to deliver a heavy punch to Anastasia's jaw and a quick kick to the ribs as she fell to the road before tearing off in the car. Glenn stuffed in the back seat.
Metallic blood rolled over her tongue and the sounds of a walkers surrounded her hearing. “Fuck!” she cursed out loud. Grappling onto any emotion but fear she forced her body up from the ground as it began to ache. Anastasia pulled the knife from it's sheath knowing that the sound of her gun would just attract more rotting bodies. She looked around at the nearest geek and without hesitation drove her blade hard into the walkers skull and out again making sure to pivot out of the way as it dropped and dead blood spilled over the road. She breathed a heavy breath as her chest rose and fell. The sensation of putting down one of those dead fucks was like an electric charge through her system. Any residual fear had been thrown out the proverbial window and the only thing left on Anastasia's mind was getting the hell out of there with this group of people.
A switch had been flicked, she could remember something else her husband had once said about switches being flipped...they were hard to shut off once you got the feel for what had switched it on.

"God Dammit!" Daryl cursed as he raised a bow and let it fly through the air with a whistling sound following it. The arrow head spun in the air hitting it target dead on. Rotten eyeball flew from the walkers socket and it fell to the road beside the one Anastasia had dropped. "Get over 'ere."

Moving through the shuffling crowd of the animated dead, Anastasia swiftly slid her body through the gates Daryl was behind. "Thanks."

"Shudup." His hard stare lingered on her as he cocked his head to the side. "You hear dat?"

Anastasia looked past his shoulder and caught the sound he was asking about. It sounded like a mumble and a whimper. "Is that a person?" She asked.

"Dunno." Daryl's voice was low. His boots barely made a noise while he crept towards the noise, he slid his own hunting knife from his boot as he peered into a hole in the wall. "Come 'ere!" His hand shot into a crook in the wall and clutched onto something Anastasia couldn't see.

"What is it?" She stepped forward with her knife in her hand.

"This lil' creep." He tugged out a young man, barely in his twenties from the crook by the collar of his shirt.

"Aye man, my boys are gonna be back for me and will fuck you up!" He cursed.

"Not likely, son. If they ain't worried 'bout leavin' ya behind with me. They sure as hell ain't coming back for ya. Now do you know where they are takin' the Asian?"



Anastasia watched the three remaining men interrogate the young man who had been the instigator in Glenn's kidnapping. Daryl raising his voice and fists every chance he got.

Her eyes rolled and hand wiped the drying blood from her lip. “If he won't spill just blow his head off,” she spat. Anastasia was growing tired and agitated. At least an hour must have passed since Glenn and the gun were taken. She sat on a chair in another office building chewing her lower lip. Without the backing of terror exposing her nerves all she wanted to do was kick some walker arse and leave. She had almost tasted freedom from the city but quickly it had been snatched away from her leaving her with a bubbling anger in her gut.

Daryl glanced over at her input with a glint in hie eyes. “That's what I'm talkin' 'bout!”

Rick shook his head. “There will be no blowing off of anyone's head. Easily enough we can trade this one off for Glenn. Their man for ours,” his attention turned back to the young boy, “Now, where did they take him?”

"They won't trade with you. Those guns are ours!"

"Can you please not shout." Anastasia ran a hand through her hair. "You either tell us or you're left with three fucking options." Her breath was hot over his ear as she leaned in close. "You can go back to your crew and we follow you. They'll think you ratted on their location and kill you. Or we turn our backs and let this guy," She pointed a finger to Daryl. "Leave you bleeding out with the Walkers like a pig to slaughter. And lastly and my favorite, we can take you back on our journey home and give you up as food for the Walkers when we run into them, because I assure you we will."

The man's chest heaved and the three others looked back her though Daryl was the only one smirking.

"Alright I'll take you to them. But they won't trade with you."

"We will take care of that when we get there." Rick assured him. "Alright, let's go."



Later afternoon began to bleed into the sky over the group as they walked through a set of tall iron gates with their captive tied and gagged for assurance.

Rick looked around noticing several guns pointed at them from the rooftop and came to look down the barrel of one as another pack of men gathered around the front entrance.

"I suspect you are wanting those guns, Esse?" A man closest to the front spoke.

"You suspect right. Those guns are mine and I intend on getting them back." Rick replied with his hands tucked into his Sheriffs belt.

The man chuckled and looked back at his men but as he turned back to face Rick the chuckle dropped. "Get the fuck out of here before I kill all ya'll." He dismissed the fact Rick had one of his men captive and turned his back inside.

"We'll kill you man right here and as many others as we can before you get us all." Anastasia spoke up. The things she had been through had definitely blunted her fear of regular men.

He turned back around and narrowed his eyes towards the woman who was clutching just a knife, a big bladed knife, but again just a knife. "Listen mama, I run this parts-"

"You run nothing anymore. We have women and children to protect on the road and I think you have enough guns to protect your boys. So give up the guns and we will be on our way." She replied.

Daryl wanted to glance over at her as her warning stirred excitement in his gut. The smell of a bloody fight in the air had to follow those words. Thems were fightin' words!

"Mis bisnietos. Mis bisnietos..." The sound of slippers scuffing against the floor and a shaking female voice broke the tension.

Rick and his backing watched as an elderly woman shuffled through the group of thugs to the leader and rested a wrinkled hand over his arm. "Grandma-ma you shouldn't be out of bed." His voice was soft as he spoke to the woman, placing his hand over her own.

"No gun. No fight. Mis bisnietos come...come..." With her hand still clasping his arm she began to tug him in the opposite direction.

He sighed and followed her through, Rick and the others slowly and cautiously trailed behind.

"This is an old age home?" Asked Rick as they looked around at the white open area and the wide windows.

There were more older women and men sat on beds and chairs. One appeared to be having trouble getting his medical puffer to work. The leader who had just been threatening to kill everyone of them nodded and helped with the puffer. "Yes. I worked here before everything went to shit. Ever since then we have just been trying to make everything as comfortable and safe as possible."

"That's why you took the guns." Anastasia muttered as she stood furthest from the people. She was looking around as Daryl was. Both of them looking for Glenn.

"Your man has been helping us move the beds into here today."

Just then Glenn popped his head through a narrow door and waved. "Thought you guys were just gonna leave me for dead." He joked.

Rick nodded towards him. "Never." He turned his attention back to the leader with a sigh. "I can see your doing your best here...but we still need guns and bullets."

The man took a second to think. "Listen, I hear you when you say you got women and kids to protect...so let's split what's in the bag and call it a day?"



It was dark as Anastasia followed the men, including Glenn, back to camp. She listened as they recounted their shock at the situation they befell them in the city. A nursing home of all places! But Anastasia stayed silent, enjoying the fresher than town air.
The feelings of branches and grass brushed against her skin in the most delightful way as her body began to relax. Finally she had made it out of the City.
But would she stay with these new people? She wasn't sure.

The small band of five began to breath easy as they approached the camp sight but only in a world like this did that sense of coming home shatter at the sounds of screaming and gunfire.

“Oh my God!” Rick gasped hopeless as the scene before them played out.

Walkers had invaded the happy camp and were making quick meals from the inhabitants no matter who they were, women and children alike. It was something taken straight from the pages of a sick and twisted novel.

The men around her were quick to start firing the rifles in their hands at the bloody and gore infested walkers. Other men in the camp were taking up blunt objects and using them as weapons to bludgeon the undeads skulls.

Women scattered with children in arms, stupidly enough most into the gaping mouths of walkers waiting.

Anastasia bit her bottom lip and ran up the small slope from the ditch they had come to witness the slaughter from and going on instinct began tearing open skulls with her knife. Since the incident in the city it seemed like second nature. Almost as if she had taken a backseat and something else was doing the work for her, only with her hand and her knife.

Her eyes caught sight of a little girl crouching down next to a truck just as a Geek was about to wrap it's rotten hands around her. Anastasia ran at the Walker with her knife raised and slammed it right into the back of its skull. She ripped her hand backwards and crudely tugged her blade out. Dead brain matter was stuck to her blade but quickly she sheathed it into her boot and scooped the crying girl up in her arms.

"Where's your mom?" She asked looking around at the helpless camp as history repeated itself before her eyes. Blood tainted the fresh air of minutes ago and bodies began to pile up, both walker and human. And the screaming and snarling it was like a torturous symphony echoing into the night.

The little girl pointed towards a woman huddled against an RV with another woman and a young boy. "Mummy!" She cried.

"Hold on to me and don't let go till we're with your mom, okay?" Anastasia felt the girl nod into her shoulder. "Okay, we're going now."
Careful to keep her own rising panic at the state of the camp Anastasia moved through the slaughter avoiding snapping teeth and clawing hands with a boot to several rotting guts. The girl in her arms reminded her so much of the little dark haired girl back in her old group...only this time she would save the girl still living in her arms.

"Oh God, Sophia!" Her mother reached out immediately and smothered her daughter in a hug, but Anastasia didn't bother to look for a thank you. She only turned back around to join the men in the fight for survival. She'd escaped the city and now as she faced another scene of carnage she wasn't about to let herself die her. Not now. No way.



The early morning sun cracked like an egg over the fresh slaughter and spewed its warmth over the camp in the middle of a vacant road. Anastasia's back was turned to it as she sat away from the carnage, the small locket turning over and over in her fingers.
She could hear the moans and cries from the living over their lost ones and felt their pain so fresh and strong as it ripping through her heart. Those tears she had been fighting to hold back in the city began to fall down her face hard and all the thoughts she was trying to keep a lid on spilled over to the front of her mind's eyes and saw her limbs begin to shake again.
The night before she had felt so strong in putting down those walkers and saving who she could but now as Anastasia sat on the road she felt nothing more than helpless.
But she couldn't let these strangers notice her in this state. They would begin to ask questions and too many questions led to lies she wouldn't be able to keep track of.

“Aye',” a hard tap on her shoulder made her suck back on her tears, “Give us a hand.”

Wiping her face she turned without bothering to look up and took hold of a dead walkers ankles and began dragging it over to the mounting pile ready for a fire pit.

Daryl furrowed his brow at the tears brimming her eyes. “Harden up. We got a lot of bodies dat need burnin'.”

Anastasia looked up at the Redneck and her gaze hardened. “Daryl, shut the fuck up."