His hands carried the sharp hatchet and reached for some pieces of wood. The weather had stayed the same during those weeks, the day was hot and the night was freezing cold. But luckily the house had a fireplace. In the end, your friend did not told you to leave, and you thought you were both happy to find each other again because none of you would like to be alone no matter how hard it was to admit it. And now this kind of cooperation has started. Living together, if you can call it that. You hunted and went on expeditions... In short, you did not lack food. The house was solid and safe. A few Walkers bumped against the door now and then, but you had managed to eradicate them bit by bit. Nevertheless, you were neither happy nor relieved, you had learned not to enjoy situations as optimally as they could be, because you did not want to be disappointed if another misfortune happened.

'There is always a storm lurking behind a calm sea...'

You stacked the logs in a box and returned to the house. When you arrived, you kindled the fire and then sat down on the ground next to it. The window that you had broken, you had provided some boards to it, but unfortunately there was still draught. You cooked over the flame some birds that you had impaled. Your friend had told you he had lost his family from the beginning, he had been in a group and spent a year with them in Macon. Then things went bad and they had to flee in different ways. A bit like what happened to you... In the end there were only two of them left, he and his now dead friend. You had interviewed each other in the first few days as if you wanted to speed some kind of forced friendship, but at least you had avoided questions about the future. You only knew what you needed to know. When you had the opportunity, you returned to the place where you had buried Hershel. You had promised yourself that you would never think of it, but you could not forget it. Part of you hoped with all your heart that the group of Rick Grimes was safe, that they were fine. You knew that it was very unlikely that it was impossible for everyone to be alive. Of course you would never see them again, but at least you hoped they had made it and survived.

"You miss your people, right?", your friend suddenly asked you, interrupting your thoughts.

"I hardly knew these people, I don't want to think about it.", you replied.

"I don't believe you, I know-...", he began, but you interrupted him: "No, you're wrong."

"I thought we could look for them, in short, as you described them, they seem to be good people, I can not believe you think they didn't survive, maybe we could survive here together as a group. We could even build another shed."

"Do you really believe the bullshit you say?"

He looked annoyed at you: "It was just an idea... It is possible that they haven't lost too much."

"And what could you do with it? You always said that you no longer want to be part of a group and I don't want to know these people anymore."

"Yes, that's true, but I'm not stupid, I know that with the excuse of hunting you're going to the grave of the old man."

"Even if they were still alive, it would be a miracle to find them again, it was a few weeks ago, they might already be far away, or dead."

He stood up: "If you really believed that they were dead, you would have said it immediately, you ignore the discussion of where they might be, stop lying to yourself!"

You stared at him. It seemed to you that he could read your actual thoughts... But he understood that the conversation was over now, because you would never have agreed to look for them. It was just too risky. Needless to make the situation worse, you just had to take advantage of the silence of that moment. It seemed like an idyllic break and you wouldn't have broken it again. With a full stomach, you threw yourself in the chair and hugged your legs at the height of your chest. You watched the animation of the flames, the shades of that glowing, hot spring. The man lay down on the sofa and folded his hands behind his head. The sweatshirt, though very tall, made his muscles appear.

"I read the first pages of this diary...", he admitted: "But it's not worth it."

You understood that it was heartbreaking. The reading of these pages had to be torture. You lived day by day. That was the new reality. You were aware that the world of the past no longer existed and would never return. When you experienced the memories and pain of another person, only the emotions that you wanted to suppress every minute of your uncertain existence emerged. You did not want to read it and you would not try it anymore. It was like building a barrier, something that could keep you from suffering. But your friend and you weren't that different. You have worked so hard to be stubborn and apathetic towards others, not recognizing that you have made them part of you. At every death of one of your friends you both suffered a loss as from part of you too. You now scanned the shadows of the flames with your gaze swinging on his body. You have done everything not to feel any friendship for this man, you fought with yourself to prevent any kind of affection. But in fact you both already had a bond... He had managed to help you when you were at the end of your powers. He had given you stability. And you were thankful. He enjoyed making you smile, but you knew he was doing it to distract you from the past. You immediately looked away and returned with your eyes to the fireplace. From time to time the wood creaked as if it suffered from the heat. You crouched on this comfortable chair and lost yourself in your thoughts until everything was dark.

You ran up the stairs and risked stumbling several times, but stopped at the handrail. You felt your heart tremble, you were in turmoil and panic. You forced yourself to stay calm, but the pressure had increased and you risked a panic attack but in this situation you couldn't afford it. And so you pushed open the door and threw yourself in. You grabbed her desperately. She understood that something was wrong and hugged convulsively her stuffed animal. Her eyes were bright and red, they were already full of tears. You took her bag under the bed and began to fill it with clothes and everything you thought necessary. Noises from the lower floor made you both jump. You were afraid your parents could break the door. You had to leave as soon as possible. The shooting began to echo in the neighborhood and your little sister covered her ears and whined. So you looked out the window and what you saw scared you even more. A horde of these things wandered around the neighborhood. Everyone was on the run, busy loading the cars. You had to get out of here. It was too dangerous. You tugged at your little sister and forced her to look you in the eye.

"Take your things, okay, I'll go down and get food, we'll get out of here."

You took her hands as if to reassure her. She was not stupid, she knew something serious had happened. But she still had no idea about the deterioration of something that looked like a harmless disease. You ran into the basement and grabbed your father's two bags, one of which was locked with a padlock. It contained firearms. You hurriedly searched for the keys in the various drawers. Then you shuddered... They were in your father's wallet. But if you entered this room, they would attack you immediately. You had to find a way to open it later. Luckily, there was always a gun in the car, a pistol. It would have sufficed for the time being in case of danger. You went into the garage and threw the bags in the car. Then you went back to the kitchen and emptied the fridge. You had no idea where you would go, so you took everything with you. You did not want you and your little sister to end up in bad situations without food and necessary items... Everything that seemed useful ended up in the bag without a specific order. Meanwhile, more television pictures of various attacks in other cities appeared. The epidemic had spread at absurd speed, infecting most of Atlanta and around. Those who were bitten or scratched became those beings. The news broadcast some horrible pictures, like a kid who shot those things. But these showed no pain, on the contrary, they progressed aggressively. The experts didn't understand what was going on, everything led to total delirium. These things were aggressive and tore anyone who met them. If the bullets were not enough, you would have to find something else. Now you went to the bathroom and took the toothbrushes, toilet paper and soap. Suddenly you heard a few steps and saw your little sister in tears with the bag in front of you. It was time to go... And so you ran with her back to the garage and started the car.

"Close your eyes, sweetheart, don't look."

But she did not obey. You drove down the street trying to avoid the infected. You could hear screams, gunfire, even the fear... You turned on the radio and hoped for some constructive news, but had to change several stations because some had already interrupted the communication. At last a male voice echoed in the car. The signal was disturbed, but you understood a few words from time to time. Atlanta, army, relief, salvation. Safe area, refuge... But damn, Atlanta was relatively far away for your current situation. You lived in Senoia... But it wasn't a problem, you would have done anything to bring your little sister to safety. You had to make it...

You suddenly jumped up and your thoughts moved away from this reminiscent nightmare. The room was still dark, you had not slept much. You noticed that you had your friend's hand on your shoulder and sat up. He was awake, got up and went back to the couch, while you looked at him with wide eyes.

"You had a nightmare, I thought it would be better to wake you up."

You looked at the necklace that you had now tied around your wrist. It belonged to your little sister... It now covered the foremost part of the scar...

"Now it will be hard to fall asleep again.", you replied.

He shrugged. "As if that was a novelty...", he added.

Although you were safe, no one had found the right rhythm yet. You didn't sleep enough and when you could close your eyes, you were always eager to hear sounds and ready to shoot when needed. Your life was hanging by a thread.

"We could explore the area beyond the road we saw in the distance, there were a few other houses."

You nodded and showed approval. Lately, you have eaten small birds and snakes. Food was a priority.

"Shall we go now? Within an hour, a maximum of two, the sun will come out again."

He tapped his fingers on the soft sofa and watched the sky from the window: "Yeah, I don't think it's a bad idea, so we can do something rather than get bored.", he said, satisfied.

And a short time later you took your weapons, as well as two backpacks, closed the door and went off. The flashlights allowed you to see even in the darkest areas, but the sky was slowly getting brighter, every step you took. You heard a few sounds of Walkers in the distance, but as long as they were far away, they would not have been a problem. It would be unnecessary to waste energy. Your friend told you some anecdotes about his school life and you both laughed a little bit. Sometimes you were amazed that you could do it again... You wondered when even this simple gesture would become an old memory. But a loud noise forced you to raise your eyes in panic. A helicopter flew at high speed over the area. Instinctively you thought about how you could get their attention, but the gray smoke convinced you that it was not useful. Probably your companion also had the same thought, in fact he didn't seem to be attracted to it and a short time later you heard in the distance the loud bang of the crash. So you continued to follow the road, paying attention to the movement of the sun. Meanwhile, the black obsidian clock Rick gave you had broken, but you didn't throw it away. You still kept it with you, in the pocket of your leather jacket. You both walked quietly next to each other until you reached the houses. He was a little unsure, but inside you saw some food and bottles. You knocked on the windows and waited until you were sure that no Walkers were in the house. As you were finally in the house you grabbed the glasses and put them in the backpacks.

"Are you going to check if there are any medications in the bathroom? I look around the other rooms.", he said, and you did it.

The tub was destroyed and the mirror over the sink was smashed. In a closet without doors, you reached for a first aid kit and some antibiotics. Satisfied, you left the room. You had never found much medication or bandages... But you did not have time to inform your companion that a Walker grabbed your ankle and you lost your balance. You fell forward and hit your head on the floor. The Walker clung to your legs and climbed over you. He had no lower limbs anymore... Suddenly you heard a couple of shots and realized: Your buddy was in trouble too. Before the bastard rammed his teeth into your flesh, you stabbed him with a machete and split his head in half. You stood up immediately, staggering, your forehead bleeding. You saw several Walkers in the lower floor walking around on the ground. You and your companion looked at each other clearly, you had to leave this house immediately. But when you were outside, you noticed that the street was surrounded by these damn bastards. The helicopter had attracted a herd of them.

"What the hell...", he whispered, looking at you in panic.

"We can't eliminate them all, we have to escape.", you said, grabbing him by his shirt. You started running and slaughtered those who wanted to assert themselves on your way. Even after you entered the clearing, the Walkers, though they had left the road, were scattered everywhere, forcing you to devise a damn plan. It was impossible to return to the house, you had to wait for the herd to continue its trek.

"Follow me!", you shouted: "Let's look for two lonely Walkers, you know what I'm up to!"

There was no other means, there were too many. You have never seen so many of them. You searched desperately for two Walkers left behind. You found a small group busy devouring a deer. So you threw yourselves on them like furies and massacred them like slaughter cattle. Others, however, came out from behind shrubs and didn't let you get to victory too soon. Back to back you tried to keep them away. But a Walker on the ground you thought dead, dropped your companion and the others lunged at him. As if possessed by a demon, you threw yourself on these bastards and shattered their skulls. You pushed their bodies away and approached your buddy for fear of finding him injured. He scanned his arms anxiously, searching for a few scratches and bites. But he seemed unharmed. You embraced him impulsively and at first he was astonished, his arms raised high, but later he changed his posture. You had both feared for the worst. And now you were not ashamed of this physical contact.

It was soothing.