Z

“Tyler?” I shouted out into the quiet house. I heard a giggle from upstairs and followed it.

I pushed open the cracked door that led to Tyler’s room and noticed his tiny shoes sticking out from underneath his bed. “Where are you?” I taunted playfully, purposely looking everywhere else for my son than where he actually was. I finally moved to the bed and got on my knees.

“Got ‘cha!” but instead of seeing my little five year old, I was met with just his shoes. Stunned, I stood up and placed my hands on my hips; he tricked me. I heard the pitter-patter of his tiny feet running down the hall and into the living room. I turned on my heel and quickly followed after him.

I stopped short when I saw him sitting with his father, who was too busy tickling Tyler to notice my presents. “Mommy, help!”

Brian stopped tickling him and looked over at me with a smile. He stood up and grabbed Tyler, tossing him in the air and catching him before walking over to greet me in a kiss. Tyler’s giggles died and he started to squirm in Brian’s grip.

“Ew!”

Brian pulled away and looked at Tyler, “Ew?” Brian set Tyler down, and he ran off to his room, trying to get as far away from our public display of affection as quickly as possible.

“How was work?” I asked, taking Brian’s coat and hanging it up in the closet.

“Stressful, like usual.” He placed his thermos on the counter in the kitchen. “Why don’t you go to work for me, so I can stay home tomorrow?”

I smiled and pulled the ingredients out to make some lunch for my boys. “Sure, but you have to go to work for me at Dr. Connor’s before you take over my shift at Longhorns.”

“Okay, I get it,” he laughed and took the sandwiches from my hands and kissed my cheek in thanks before walking over to the dinner table and set them down. “Tyler! Lunch is ready!”

I could hear Tyler running down the hall and he tried to stop, but ended up skidding into the island instead. He little body fell backwards and he lied on the ground, shaking in laughter. I helped him up and into the chair before turning to my husband to see him shaking in laughter as well. I kissed both of their heads before leaving the room and going to get ready for work.



“Beth?”

I blinked a couple of times to shake the memories and keep the tears at bay. I tried not to think about the past; it hurt too much. Remembering the last time I saw my family alive reopened the wound in my heart that I’ve been trying so hard to close.

“Yeah?”

Rose shook her head. “You looked out of it.”

“Sorry,” I cleared my throat and picked up the pace to catch up to her. We finally made it to the clearing and a small little town was in view. It looked deserted, but I knew looks were deceiving. “Come on,” I jogged closer to one of the stores, looking in the windows for any walkers. “Coast seems clear,”

Rose walked in first, looking in every direction before she started scouting for the goods we needed while I kept lookout.

“Rose, hide!” I whispered harshly, as I noticed two strangers walking up towards the store. One looked like an oriental man, a pizza delivery hat on his head, normal looking clothes and sneakers. The other stranger – a woman – was pretty with her short hair to her jaw. I ran over to the counter and jumped over it, seeing Rose already squatting down there.

“What do you think we should do?” The man asked, seeming upset about something. “I think we should kill him. He poses a threat to the group.”

I looked to Rose to find that my wide-eyed expression matched hers.

“We gotta get out of here!” She whispered, nodding towards the back.

“Glenn, stop talking,” she pulled him close and kissed him, and I raised my brows.

I pulled out my pistol and took the safety off. I noticed the look Rose was giving me, but I chose to ignore it. “Come on,” I - as slowly and quietly as I could - started to walk towards the back; uncomfortably keeping an eye on the couple to make sure they stayed occupied.

Once we left through the back door, I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. The walk back to the car was quiet beside the leaves crunching underneath our feet.

“Do you think that if they saw us, they would have killed us?” Rose asked, keeping her gaze ahead of us.

I shrugged a shoulder. “Don’t know,” I looked down to the gun in my hand. “but I wouldn’t have given them the chance.”

She stopped walking, turning to me with an unreadable look in her eyes. “How many people have you killed?”

I shifted uncomfortably and put my gun back in the holster. “I’ve only killed when I had to,” I inhaled deeply before letting it out through my nose. “I sacrificed a kid – he couldn’t have been older than twenty, twenty-two – right before I met you,”

“I’m sure there was no other way.”

“There could have been,” tears were starting to burn my eyes. “We were trapped in a drug store in the city. There was a ladder that leads to the roof, but I knew that if we both went up, the walkers would follow us. So, when the glass shattered under the pressure and walkers started to fill into the store, I shot him in the leg so that he couldn't follow me. The walkers surrounded him in seconds...”

“Hey, don’t blame yourself; you did what you needed to do to survive.” Rose rested her hand on my shoulder. “The rules from before don’t apply now.”

I nodded, but knew that I was just being selfish. If I really wanted to save him, I could have. I just knew that he would of turn around and killed me once I did.

“Who knew that with all these dead things trying to eat us, we’d still be killing people?” she laughed. I narrowed my eyes at her, but her laughter was contagious, and found myself loosening up and joining in.

Her laughter died as a thought crossed her mind, “If we were in that situation, would you do that to me?”

I smiled, “No, never.”

Rose has become like a sister to me in the time that I’ve known her. I never thought I would let myself become close to anyone else after what I went through with my family, but I enjoyed her company. Being alone gave me too much time to think about the past, and that was the last thing I wanted to do.