The others walked into the kitchen laughing their heads off, it was nice to see them laugh for a change.
'We've talked about it, and if you want to come with us you can,' I said as they all sat down.
'Thanks, I appreciate it,' he smiled graciously at us. We sat and talked about what our next move would be, before we went to the lab we had to get some more food. We debated on who would go out to town and look and who would stay and keep watch. While I liked Dom I didn't yet trust him, he had to earn his place among us. Tessa wanted to go which made Troy want to go and of course Dom wanted to stay with them, while I thought that Delilah, Jade, Jensen and I should go. We argued about this for a while until Jade yelled at us to stop.
'Be quiet the lot of you, Frankie, Delilah, Jensen and Tessa will go while Troy, Brooke, Dom and I will stay here. End of discussion,' there was more emotion in her than I had heard in a while.
'I'm not staying here while my daughter goes off and puts her life at risk.' Troy was getting angry and I could tell there was going to be trouble. 'Dad how many times do I have to tell you I'm not a child, I can go on a run without you,' she looked her father right in the eyes and wouldn't back down.
Troy looked defeated, he had lost this fight, personally I thought that he needed to stop treating Tessa like a child. He waved his hands in the air in defeat and took out the handgun that was in his pocket, it had five bullets left inside that we had agreed to only use in an emergency as it was the only gun we had left.
'Fine, but you will take this with you. No arguments,' his voice was final and we knew that he meant business.
'Okay if it will make you feel better,' she took the gun and put it in the back of her jeans. We set off to the nearest town, it was an hours walk away. The sun was out but it wasn't as warm as it had been the previous day, which I was thankful for. We walked in silence for most of the way, I looked at Jensen feeling so thankful that I still had him. After we lost our home he had been my rock, losing Sanctuary was harder to deal with because Nikkita's grave had been there. I hated not being able to visit her, but no matter how much it hurt I knew there was no point in being angry because there was nothing I could do.
Poor Delilah, she still struggled with Nikkita's loss, having to to watch as I killed her only added to her grief. Though I had long since grieved for Nikkita, I had never fully got over losing Tamara. I had mourned for Maggie too, but in truth I knew that if she had lived, there would have been no hope for her. She died to save us all, and that was her redemption. Tamara on the other hand, I had missed whole-heartedly. She was the one who made us laugh, gave us strength and wasn't afraid to give us a whack when we needed one. For the last few months I had been able to at least deal with Tamara's death, but the dream from last night plagued me. Seeing her again made me question whether she was really dead. I shook my head, remembering that I had been there. I saw her bloody head, felt that she had no pulse. There was no way she could be alive, it just wasn't possible.
The more I thought about it, the more things didn't make sense. If we'd thought for one moment that she had still been alive, we never would have left Sanctuary. If she had actually lived, it would have meant that she would have either been burned or been captured. How could she have survived that alone though? I mean there's no way she could have avoided being captured, or could she? Tamara was resourceful, fast on her feet and tough as nails, but she'd have been severely injured. I sighed not knowing what to think, while there was a part of me that so desperately wanted her to be alive, there was a voice in the back of my mind that reminded me if she was alive she would have been by herself for all this time. I wouldn't want anyone to have to flee from both the dead and the cannibal's alone, oh Goddess please help me make sense of this, I prayed silently.
I just didn't know if it was only a dream, when my visions came to me in my waking hours, I knew they were premonitions but when I slept I wasn't always able to to tell the difference.
'Are you alright?' Jensen asked quietly.
'Do you think that my dream last night meant anything, you know the part about Tamara being there?' I said feeling sad. 'Honestly, I don't know. Visions aren't something I really understand, it could have just been a dream, you know your minds way of wishing she was still alive. In any case I would talk to Jade about this, she knows more about premonitions than I do,' he replied trying to sound comforting. 'I know, but she's been so distant lately and she can't even bear to hear Tamara's name. Plus I just can't shake this feeling that it isn't all just a dream.'
'I know but if anyone can help you make sense of the dream it's Jade,' he put his arm round me and squeezed me gently.
'You're right I know, I just don't know how to talk to her lately,' I told him sadly.
'All I can really say, is that I'll never let anything like that happen to you,' he smiled at me and I knew he was right, I just needed to find the right time to bring it up with Jade.
I smiled at him and carried on walking, I really didn't know what to make of my dream I just hoped that if by some miracle Tamara was still alive, that she was safe. We came across a pharmacy a little while later and decided to check it out, though it was unlikely to have food but we could always do with more medication. We knocked on the door and waited, within moment two walkers came charging at the door. Jensen and Delilah stood by the door, ready to open it. Tessa and I held our knives, preparing for a fight,
'Open the door,' I said. They opened the door, letting the two corpses out. I took care of one, before it could get near any of us. Tessa easily dealt with the other, I smiled feeling thankful that they weren't the extra strong ones we'd been dealing with. We wandered inside, keeping an eye out for biters. I made sure to check under all the fallen shelves, and in the old office. I found only a dead man with a bite on his arm, he'd been stabbed in the head before he could turn.
I returned to the others, who were packing everything they could into their bags. We'd found some mild painkillers, a few bandages, and four bottles of water. We ventured further into town, finding only trashed shops and very little food. It was lucky for us that there wasn't any other dead to be found. We'd not hit the mother lode, like we'd hoped, but at least we wouldn't starve.
As we walked back, I took this opportunity to find out a little more about Dom.
'So how long have you known Dom?' I asked Tessa. 'Since I was born, him and my dad have known each other since they were kids. He's like family, he was there for us when my dads brother died. I'm so glad to see him again,' she replied in a singsong voice.
'Has he always been this cheerful?'
'No, Dom went through a lot in his life. His wife left him many years ago, taking their children with her. He hasn't seen them in over twenty years, they moved to Australia I think,' she told me sadly.
'Ouch, that's got to hurt.'
'Yeah, it was rough on him. But he knows that it was partly his own fault,' she replied sadly. 'Whys that?' I asked cautiously. 'He was a drug addict, and after a few years his wife couldn't cope with it. So she gave him the choice, and sadly he chose the drugs. But after she left, dad helped him through it. Once he got clean, he tried to get in contact with his wife, but it was too late. She'd moved on, and the kids wanted nothing to do with him.'
'I'm sorry, he seems like a really good guy now though,' I said comfortingly.
'He always was a good guy, but thanks. Growing up, he was my second dad. I'm happy to have him back,' she smiled brightly. We walked back home with no issues, Dom, Troy, Brooke and Jade were sat laughing in the lounge. I was glad to see a smile on Jade's face, maybe Dom was just the kind of person she needed in her life right now. I sat down on the floor and took out the food I had found, there really wasn't much, but it would have to do. There were seven tins of various food and four breakfast bars, it would only last the day.
'This is all we could find, I know its not much but it'll have to do,' I said feeling their disappointment.
'It's alright, you did good,' Jade smiled and I actuall
y believed that it was a genuine smile. We divided the food as best we could, it really wasn't much but it would last until we got to the lab. Tonight's dinner was a handful a berries and half a tin of vegetables. I shared my tin with Jensen, I let him have the first half.
'Hey, you ate all the sweetcorn,' I moaned.
'Oops, sorry,' he replied with a cheeky smile on his face. I sat and finished off the tin, feeling tired. It was time to sleep, we had another long day of walking ahead of us tomorrow. We settled down for the night and me and Jensen arranged the cushions so that they made a somewhat comfortable bed, we lay down looking at each other. He kissed me as he pulled our blanket over us, I felt very sleepy but my mind was wide awake. I kept on thinking about how we were going to get to the lab, the countryside was full of walkers and they were so much stronger than they had been previously. It was going to be really difficult to get to the lab but we had to try, what else could we do? I fell asleep in Jensen's arms thinking about all we had lost.
I woke the next morning feeling relieved that I hadn't had another horrific dream, though the trauma I had endured in the dream stayed with me, the face of my attacker was fading. Though I could still picture his hateful, angry eyes. I saw that Jensen wasn't next to me so I went to look for him and found that he was outside getting water from the well.
I got up and took out the map from Jade's bag. We weren't that far from the lab, there was a lot of countryside to cover though. The other's came down shortly after I got up, Jade and Brooke sat down next to me. Delilah sat on the floor getting everyone's breakfasts out, oh joy more tinned crap.
I sighed, anything was better than nothing I reminded myself.
'How are we going to get to the laboratory, there's so much open space between us and the lab?' Delilah asked looking sleepy.
'I've looked and looked but we have no choice but to take the open roads, there's no other way,' I said thoughtfully.
We sat and talked about it for a while and eventually we all agreed to set off later that day, we packed up what little we had and set off. The radio still wasn't working so we couldn't speak to Finn, I hoped he and Faye were alright as with each passing day I grew more worried about them.
Chapter 2
Delilah
There was no denying it, I was so vastly different from the girl I used to be. I wasn't the big sister, or the feral girl Nikkita had met in the woods all those years ago. I was no longer the friend, who looked after everyone. I was a lost girl just trying to find her place. After the loss of all my close friends, I didn't know where I belonged.
Jade, Frankie and Jensen had made me part of their family but I didn't know where I fitted in. Frankie was the strong one, our leader. Jade was like the mother, she cared for us. Jensen was the baby of the group, though he was far stronger and smarter than he realised. Even the others had their place, Troy was the gruff old man. Tessa was the brains and even Brooke who was often quiet and shy had brilliant ideas sometimes.
Where did that leave me? Was I just the muscle, an expendable person who would run first into danger? I knew I would gladly give my life to protect Frankie, Jade and Jensen, but who was I? It was a question that had been plaguing me since our departure from Sanctuary, I could only hope that as time went on I would find myself again.
When I saw Nikkita at the gates, something snapped in me. I knew from the look on her face, that she would never come home. Watching as Frankie said her goodbye, then killed the woman I loved crushed me. Yet I knew, despite how even now it hurt to think of her, Frankie had done the right thing. My heart ached from her loss, but in truth I felt somewhat envious. Nikkita was at peace now, she would never have to feel hungry or scared again.
Whatever world there was after death, if there was a heaven or hell, if Frankie and Jade's version of the afterlife was true, I knew Nikkita would've gone to a good place. She would always be in our hearts, and I liked to think that she was watching us. She'd want Frankie to be happy, which she was with Jensen. I also knew that I wanted to be someone she could be proud of.
The others were all lost as well, though in a different way to me. Loss was apart of this world, there was no way around it. By this time next year, not all of us would be here and there was nothing we could but prepare ourselves for the loss. All it would take for the others to find their way again, was one thing, a home.
I tuned back into reality as we turned down a road which led to a small wooded area, I had a bad feeling about going through the woods but it was the route we'd picked so I marched on ahead. The sun was beaming down through the trees, light bounced off everything giving the woods a somewhat mystical feel.
I walked at the front of everyone which meant I should have been more alert, but I was so lost in my own mind that I didn't notice the large covered up hole in the ground. I fell straight through it, landing with a thud a good six or seven feet down.
'Delilah!' I heard Frankie shout. 'I'm alright, just get me out of here,' I called back. While I waited for them to get me out I checked myself for injuries, I had a few scrapes but nothing of concern. I heard the others talking, then I heard shouting, I tried myself to get out of the hole but there was nothing to grip onto. I had two knives in my belt that were strong enough for me to stab into the dirt, I used them to pull myself out of the pit.
I peeked my head out of the hole to see the others fighting with some of the cannibal's, I recognized the leader as we'd fought her before, at Sanctuary. For someone so small and dumpy she could move fast, it was lucky for Troy that I was so fast acting. I kicked the leader out of the way just as she was about to stab him in the back. Thankfully there weren't many of them, in our weakened state it was a struggle to take on six of them. Jade could still hold her own, though Brooke wasn't doing too good. She was on the floor being cornered by a tall balding man with pale skin and bad teeth. I swooped in behind him, and before he knew it he was down on the floor with a knife in the back of the throat. I pulled Brooke up to her feet, she smiled gratefully at me then ran to help the others. I stabbed the guy in the head to make sure that he wouldn't come back.
I looked for the others to see if they needed any help. Frankie of course was holding her own, watching her fight was like seeing Xena in action. I found Jensen giving a well built African man the run around, I signalled to Jensen not to let the guy know I was here. I hid behind a tree as I waited for Jensen to lead the guy towards me, I knelt down ensuring that I would stab him where I wanted. As the man ran near to the tree I jumped out and gutted him, blood splattered everywhere but I didn't care as long as my friend was alright. Jensen took care of destroying his brain, I quickly checked him over to make sure that he was okay.
We made our way back to the others, they had all managed to defeat the cannibal's only the leader remained. She was knelt down on the floor while Jade held a knife to her throat.
'Tell me why your after us?' Jade shouted angrily as she pressed the knife onto the leader's throat.
'Because you took away our food source, the men were going to capture most of you and the ones they didn't want were going to be given to us,' she cackled maniacally.
'She's crazy Jade, just kill her and be done with it,' Troy said rather calmly.
'Even if you kill me, there are so many others around. They will find you,' her pale green eyes were wild, I wondered if she really knew what was going on.
'Anyone have any objections to this plan?' She asked us all.
'Nope,' I replied quickly.
'Me neither,' Jensen agreed.
'You won't get any arguments from me.' Tessa chimed in.
'Nor me,' Frankie answered fiercely.
'How about you Dom?' Jade asked him. He looked really uncomfortable, it seemed strange given how long we'd all lived like this but something told me that Dom had never killed a person. It seemed absurd I know but I had to ask him.
'Dom, have you ever killed anyone before?' I asked softly.
'Of course he has, what kind of question is that,' Troy answered r
ather loudly. 'Actually I haven't Troy, if I ever ran into trouble I either hid or ran. I know it's cowardly but that's how I've survived all these years,' he hung his head in shame.
'It's alright, you don't have to be part of this choice if you don't want to,' I told him comfortingly.
'Thanks but as much as I don't like it, I know this has to be done,' he replied still looking embarrassed.
'Then it's settled,' Troy bellowed.
The leader didn't seem to be aware of what was going on, she just muttered things.
'Must find the other one, a girl is no one,' she muttered.
'Wait Jade!' Frankie exclaimed.
'What is it?' She asked.
Frankie knelt down beside the woman, looking somewhat confused but determined.
'What girl are you after?' She asked feeling panicked.
'Tall, fast girl. Can outrun even Donna, pale skin, funny accent-.' She stopped midway through her sentence and lunged at Frankie, if not for Jade she would have clawed Frankie's face. Jade stabbed her in the back, then in the head. Frankie sat on the floor trying to pull herself together. It was then that it dawned on me, the girl they were hunting. The tall, pale, speedy girl with a funny accent, it sounded like Tamara! I looked at Frankie who seemed to know what I was thinking.
'Are you okay?' Jade asked.
'Yeah I'm fine,' Frankie replied looking a little angry.
'What the hell was that all about?' Troy asked. Frankie and Jensen exchanged looks, they knew something the rest of us didn't. Judging by their looks, they were going to come clean, but I had a feeling that I knew what it was. There was only one thing they kept from the group, Frankie must have had a vision.
I was right, Frankie had a dream the night before last. While she didn't go into details about the dream, she just said that Tamara was there, and she was alive.
'Not this weird shit again, come on you can't expect us to believe that Tamara is actually alive because of some dream you had,' Troy said annoyed.
Dead World Rising (Book 3): The Cure Page 2