Beauty in Death - The Walking Dead

-twenty-

And Then There Were None

The bus rolled away from the prison as fast as it could and got on the road. The small children were crying, and the older people were trying to calm them. Kacy was just trying to stay awake. She had been given the medicine to help with her fever, but it hadn't come down. Not yet, anyway.

As she leaned her head against the side of the bus, she heard one of the smaller children crying. Kacy squeezed her eyes shut and tried to think about something else—anything else.

Her sister had to have gotten out of the prison, didn't she? Chloe was strong, and she was smart, she couldn't have been killed. Kacy ran a hand through her hair, it was oily from not having showered and being sick.

Kacy thought she had seen Glenn and Maggie get on the bus, but when she looked around after they left, she realized they had gone. She hoped they were okay, too. She hoped everyone was okay.

Chloe, Carl, Rick, Michonne, Daryl, Beth, Hershel, Glenn, Maggie... she just wanted for everyone to be safe. If her sister were here with her now, Kacy figured she would say something about keeping her head in the game, and about staying positive because they had to make sure everyone on this bus was safe.

Kacy sometimes didn't understand why her sister thought things like that were her responsibility. They were only fourteen, after all. Sometimes Kacy wished there was more time for them to be kids, but she knew there wasn't. Not anymore.

The bus suddenly swerved. People screamed and then it was on at a complete stop. Kacy blinked in surprise, wondering exactly what was going on. That's when she heard them; the walkers.

They were clawing at the sides of the bus, desperate to get in and get at their number one food source. Kacy was still sick, she could feel it. But that didn't matter right now, she had to at least try to help these people. She pulled out the gun her mother had given her before she died and took a deep breath.

The other people on the bus were panicking and running from the bus in every direction imaginable. Kacy wanted to yell at them to stop running, that they needed to stick together, but they wouldn't. That's when the first person was bit.

A walker grabbed one of the older people that Kacy recognized to be a Gillian Masters. She screamed in pain and they were on top of her. And then, one by one, everyone else began to get taken down. Kacy's eyes widened as the scene unfolded in front of her.

She pushed her way out of the bus and started running. There was nothing she could do to help those people, so she ran. But she was still weak from the illness, and she could hear the walkers gaining on her.

There was no telling how many were behind her, and Kacy didn't want to take chances and turn around to find out how many there were. Her breathing was hitched, and she could feel herself begin to physically exhaust herself.

She knew she was slowing down, and she knew there was no way she was going to be able to outrun the walkers behind her. "It's gonna be okay..." She muttered to herself.

"Kacy." The young girl suddenly froze and looked down the road ahead of her. That voice—it was so familiar. That's when she saw her—her mom. Liz was standing there a little ways down the road. "It's okay, baby, you don't have to run much further. Just up here to me, and then you can be done. You can rest."

Kacy blinked and shook her head. There was no way that her mom was actually there. She must've been hallucinating from the illness... still, it would be nice to finally be able to rest.

"It's okay, baby, I'll be here," Her mom said. She held her arms out and Kacy ran as fast as her legs would carry her into her mother's outstretched arms. She found herself in the familiar and warm embrace and she never wanted to let go.

"M-mom..." Kacy sobbed. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

"Shhh..." Her mother hushed her. "It's okay, baby." Liz held her daughter's face in her hands. "You don't have to fight anymore, it's okay."

Kacy glanced behind her at the advancing walkers and then down at the gun in her hands. She looked up at her mom's glowing face. Liz was smiling. "I'll be here," she said.

"Is... is Dad there, too?" Kacy asked, her grip on the gun tightening.

Liz nodded. "He is. He's here, I'm here, Grandma and Granddaddy, too." She smiled.

That doesn't sound so bad, Kacy thought. She raised her hand and grabbed her Mom's. "Will you be with me?" She asked, choking up a little.

Her mother smiled and kissed her daughter's forehead. "Until the very end," She whispered. "You don't have to be afraid anymore, Kacy. I'm here."

Kacy leaned into her mother's touch. "But what about Chloe?" She asked suddenly. "Where is she?"

"She's not here."

Kacy breathed a sigh of relief.

"Baby, if you want to see us on your terms, you need to hurry," Liz told her. Kacy could hear the walkers, they were getting closer and closer with each passing minute.

"Will she be all right if I go with you?" Kacy asked.

Liz nodded. "I know she will be. Your sister is strong, just like you. She can make it, and we'll be there to watch over her every step of the way."

Kacy nodded and, with a shaky hand, raised her gun and pressed it against the side of her head. The moans of the walkers behind her were so much closer now. Kacy knew it was now or never. Her hand trembled as her finger found the trigger.

Then, she felt her mother's hand in her own and it calmed her. "It's okay, baby, it's okay..." Kacy nodded, taking deep relaxing breaths.

The sound of the gunshot rang in every direction.

➵

...

~Madison