After the well incident, everyone split up.
Amy stayed near me for a moment, but Andrea came over and took her back to the RV to clean up.
By sunset, the camp had settled. We circled the fire, ate, and had some light conversations. One by one, people drifted off to sleep.
As the morning came, I got up and dressed in my training clothes, then stepped outside the tent.
I stood there for a moment, waiting, wondering if Amy would join today or decide to rest instead. But before I could think further, I heard the RV door creak open.
Amy stepped outside, already dressed for training.
I moved closer to her and asked, a little concerned,
"You sure you wanna do this today?"
Amy nodded, determined.
"Hmh… I can't just stop whenever it gets hard."
I smiled at her.
"Good. And don't worry, this time, it'll be easier on you mentally."
We started walking towards the woods.
She looked at me.
"Because it'll be my second time?"
"Yes. And because you won't have much time to overthink."
She frowned slightly.
"Overthink?"
I nodded.
"Yes. Yesterday, when you killed the walker, there was no danger. No real threat. So when you did it, you felt everything, how the blade cut through its skin, how it went into the brain. It's different when you kill to survive, the adrenaline takes over, it numbs your senses, and you don't feel those things as much."
Amy stayed quiet for a second, then asked again.
"Where are we going this time?"
"There's a water source nearby," I said. "A small creek, we could find some walkers there."
She just nodded, determined.
"Then after… when we're done, do we just head back to camp?"
"Depends on how you'll feel after that," I answered. "If everything's okay, we'll see if we can find more walkers. And you still need to exercise, so we'll do some before heading back."
Amy glanced over and nodded.
"Got it."
After a bit more walking, we finally reached the creek and started moving alongside it, searching for any walkers.
We found one stuck in the mud near the edge of the water—the same one Carl would find later.
"This one should be good," I said, keeping my eyes on it. "But be careful. It won't stay stuck for long."
Amy nodded and slowly pulled out her kunai. She began approaching it slowly.
The walker turned towards her, arms stretching out, legs thrashing as it struggled to pull itself free.
As she got closer, I took out my own kunai, ready to move the second anything went wrong.
"Steady your nerves," I said quietly. "Don't think about anything else, just one clean strike, and you're done."
As the words left my mouth, the walker finally broke free, legs ripping loose from the mud as it lunged straight toward her.
Amy froze for a half-second, then surged forward.
She gritted her teeth and drove the kunai straight into its head, just above the eyebrows, but the blade didn't come out.
Amy tugged once, panic flashing across her face, she let go and stepped back, breathing hard as the body dropped to the ground.
I watched her for a moment, then nodded.
"Good job," I said, a small smile forming.
Amy looked back at me, still a little shaken.
"But… I let go of the knife."
I shook my head.
"Yeah, in this case, it was a bad call. You already killed it. Letting go wasn't necessary. But… if two or more walkers were coming at you, it would've been the right move. You don't waste time trying to pull a stuck weapon, you move on and draw your spare."
She gave a small nod, still breathing hard.
"How are you feeling?" I asked, stepping closer to her. I knelt down, pulled the kunai from the walker's head, and handed it back to her.
"A bit shaken," she said quietly, taking it from my hand. "But I'm okay."
I nodded.
"Want to keep looking for more?"
She looked at me and nodded back.
"I won't quit now."
I smiled, watching her for a moment.
"Good. Let's go."
We spent the next hour walking along the creek, killing any walker we came across. With each one, she hesitated less. The shaking started to fade, and the fear in her eyes began to fade.
I watched her kill the last walker of the day.
"Good, you're improving," I said. "But don't forget, alone, they're not much of a threat. It's when there's more… that's when they become truly dangerous."
She stepped away from the corpse and walked towards me, wiping her hands on her pants.
"Yeah… I can see that now. They're slow, they move in a straight line… but I still don't like the feeling of killing them."
I nodded.
"You'll get numb to it eventually. After the fifth one, I noticed you stopped shaking. It's not easy, but you're adjusting. Let's head back, get cleaned up, and maybe grab something to eat."
She let out a long breath, shoulders dropping.
"Oh, good… for a second I thought you were gonna say we had more training after this."
I smirked.
"If you want, we can still do it."
She shook her head rapidly.
"Nope. Not happening. Not today.
We were walking back toward the RV. Amy was dragging her legs along the road, barely staying upright.
She kicked a small rock off the path.
"Back home, I skipped gym class any chance I got. Now look at me—post-apocalypse athlete of the year."
I glanced sideways at her.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves."
She smiled.
"Hey, let me have this."
As we got closer to the RV, we spotted Lori and Shane standing off to the side. I placed a hand on Amy's shoulder and motioned for her to stay quiet.
She looked at me, a little confused, but did as I said.
Shane's voice was low but tense.
"Did you mean it?"
Lori blinked.
"What?"
Shane looked at her seriously.
"You said stay, did you mean it? Look, if you didn't, just say so, but do it now. I need to know."
There was a pause, then Lori nodded slightly.
"I meant it."
Shane stared at her for a second, then nodded once.
"All right then."
He turned and walked off.
Amy leaned in and whispered,
"What was that about?"
I looked at her, unsure how to explain it.
"Family disputes?"
She looked at me, unimpressed.
"Look, I know Lori and Shane had a thing going on. I'm not stupid. They'd disappear from camp at the same time, and she always came back with messy hair. It's not hard to figure out just by watching them."
I glanced back at Lori as she headed into the RV.
"Let's just say… Shane wanted to leave the group, and Lori talked him out of it."
Amy raised an eyebrow.
"So we just ignore the tension and act normal?"
I exhaled softly.
"For now, yes."
She nodded.
"Alright… and thanks. For today, and for training me," she said quietly. "Even if my legs hate you now."
I smiled a little.
"You'll feel worse tomorrow."
She rolled her eyes but smiled anyway.
"Great. I have something to look forward to."
Then she climbed the steps and slipped into the RV.
I turned and headed back towards my tent.
After changing into clean clothes, I gathered everything that needed washing and made my way towards Carol and Sophia. They were sitting near the fire pit, sorting through a basket of dirty clothes.
Carol looked up and gave a small smile.
"You can leave those here."
I nodded and put my clothes in the basket near her.
Sophia looked up at me from where she was sitting, then stood up and walked over, holding something small in her hands.
"I saved this for you," she said. "It's one of the last crackers from the box Dale found."
I looked down. It was a dry, crumbled piece wrapped in tissue.
I smiled at her and took it gently.
"Thank you."
She beamed at that, then quietly returned to her spot beside Carol.
Carol watched the exchange, smiling gently.
"We'll be having breakfast soon," she said, folding one of the shirts. "You should join us."
I gave a small nod.
"Alright."
<3rd Person Pov>
One by one, the group gathered around the campfire.
Amy was already seated near Itachi, a metal mug cradled in her hands. She glanced sideways at him.
"My legs still feel like jelly."
Itachi glanced down at her.
"Then you need to train more."
She narrowed her eyes at him.
"That was not the answer I wanted."
He just looked at her and answered in a dry tone.
"My lady, would you like a massage after your excruciating morning?"
Amy blinked, then giggled.
"Well yes, that would be perfect."
Daryl walked over and dropped onto the log nearby
"Sun's barely up and I already regret walkin' over here."
Amy raised an eyebrow.
"If we offered pancakes, would your attitude improve?"
Daryl snorted and leaned forward on his knees.
"Depends. You makin' 'em, or burnin' 'em?"
Amy scoffed.
"Rude."
Daryl shrugged.
"Didn't say no, did I?"
Itachi didn't say anything at first. He just glanced between the two of them, then shook his head slightly.
"He'd eat them either way."
Daryl looked over.
"Damn right I would. Ain't like we got many options."
He leaned back, stretching his legs with a grunt as footsteps started approaching the fire.
Jim wandered in first, rubbing sleep from his eyes.
"Mornin'. What's this about pancakes?"
Amy rolled her eyes.
"No pancakes. Just Daryl being grumpy about not having any."
Jim chuckled and sat down on a nearby rock, stretching his arms with a groan.
A few more voices started to trickle in as the others approached: Rick, Lori, Andrea, Dale, Carl, Sophia, Jacqui, Jenner, T-Dog, and Glenn.
Everyone settled in, soft conversations drifting around the fire as the camp slowly came to life.
Glenn stood up and cleared his throat.
"If anyone needs anything, write it down now. I'll be going on a quick run into town in a couple hours."
Lori immediately looked over at him but said nothing.
"Comic books," Carl blurted out without missing a beat.
"Chocolate," Amy added, still curled up beside the fire.
"Hairbrush?" Sophia asked softly, glancing up at her mom.
Glenn looked around at them, half-laughing.
"Seriously? Where would I even find chocolate? There's no comic book store in the town... but a hairbrush? That I can probably do."
He reached into his jacket and pulled out a folded scrap of paper and a pen.
"Here. Pass it around and write down whatever you need."
He paused, then looked at Carl and sighed.
"Fine. Write it down, I'll look around."
Carl grinned widely and immediately grabbed the paper, hunched over as he started writing.
After eating, everyone slowly drifted off, heading their separate ways.
Glenn was scanning the edge of the farm with a pair of binoculars, slowly sweeping the landscape. When his gaze landed on Maggie riding a horse through the field, a grin crept across his face.
He murmured under his breath,"Hello, farmer's daughter."
Suddenly, Lori stepped right into view, blocking the lens completely.
He flinched and lowered the binoculars quickly, startled to find Lori standing in front of him. Glenn started fumbling awkwardly.
Lori didn't comment. She just held out a folded piece of paper.
"Hi. Here's the list," she said, handing it over.
Then she reached into her back pocket and pulled out a second slip.
"And… there's one other item. I wrote it down separately."
Her voice lowered slightly.
"It's personal. If we could be real discreet about that, okay?"
Glenn nodded, taking it.
"Sure."
"Thank you," she said, already turning away.
He unfolded the second paper and scanned it as she walked off. After a second, his eyes widened slightly.
"Uh... what is it?"
Lori turned back over her shoulder with a faint smile.
"Kind of missing the point of the whole discreet thing, Glenn."
He winced.
"Oh. Right. Um..."
He jogged a few steps toward her.
"I just need to know where to find it."
She paused, then gave him a slightly awkward look.
"Try the feminine hygiene section."
"Oh. Enough said. Consider it done."
Lori nodded and kept walking.
Glenn just stood there, folding the note carefully and tucking it away.
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🧪 Author's Note:
Thank you all so much for the support, we've passed 300+ power stones!
As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the chapter. Your feedback means everything and helps me improve with each update.
Thanks again for reading! 🖤