𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐋𝐘 𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊
she wasn't looking for a knight, she was looking for a sword

THEY all walked in a line on the open road, using every ounce of strength they had left in them to keep walking. Every now and then they would stop for breaks, some of them breaking off in search of food or water, but most of the time, they came back unsuccessful.

Now they were only surviving off a few cans of food and just a couple of bottles of water which sucked seeing as there was more than twenty of them.

It was painful yes, but to Octavia, that wasn't the main concern she had at the moment. To her, the death of Beth still felt as if it were yesterday. She hadn't gotten one good night's sleep since it all happened, because frankly she couldn't. Every time she closed her eyes she saw Beth getting shot by Dawn, her body falling to the ground, blood surrounding the both of them. And on top of Beth's death, there was also Ty's death, and the fact that she can't find her brothers.

She was overcome with this emotion and immense quilt, so she has barely said ages words here and there, too stuck in her own mind to do anything else.

"Hey, are you okay, O?"

The girl in question looked to her left to see Rick staring at her in worry. She bit her lip and looked at her shadow. She could see her long hair sticking up in all directions so she grabbed a handful of her hair and put it up in a messy bun.

"O?"

Octavia turned her head back to Rick and sighed. "Yeah. Yeah." Her lip trembled and she bit down on it. "No." She shook her head furiously. "No, Rick. I am not okay. I lost the girl who I thought of as a daughter. I lost Ty who was a really good friend, along with Bob who seemed to find the good in everything. My brothers and Cas are out there somewhere, fighting walkers all by themselves. So, no Rick, I am not okay."

THEY stood by a bridge, waiting for the walkers to catch up to them. Octavia was there, in the front, her machete and an angel blade in hand.

"Ready?" She questioned, looking towards Rick who nodded. "Okay." She stepped up and stabbed a walker into the head.

Another walker came towards Rick who just tripped it and knocked it down the hill, landing in the water.

A lazy smirk came to Octavia's face as she swung at a third walker with her machete. A couple walkers went passed her and towards Sasha and Michonne. Octavia tumbled forward a little as she felt more of bet energy drain.

"Not now." She fell to the ground, her weapons falling from her grasp. She landed on her knees, scratching them up a bit.

Octavia ignored the burning feeling in her knees and got up, her body feeling like jello. She looked to get right as a walker came tumbling towards her.

The zombie that entered stumbled towards her, she could only describe as looking like some kind of horrific burn victim, for she had no skin on her face. Her guess, later, not at the time, was that it had been chewed off by other zombies before it reanimated. The lack of eyelids gave her eyeballs a popping look as they swiveled in their sockets, searching for her next meal. Her hair was grey and pulled into a granny's bun, like some dear old lady, but it didn't matter what she looked like, because either way, she was dead.

Octavia kicked it in it's knees, sending it the ground. She brought out a dagger and stabbed it in the head, her hands shaking as she retracted it.

Turning around, Octavia came face with another one, but before she could take action and kill the thing, Malia showed up behind it and yanked it away from Octavia, her eyes shining an electric blue. Malia smirked before her eyes turned back to normal and she let go of the death grip she had on the now completely dead walker.

"Come on, let's go."

OCTAVIA leaned against a tree, the shade bearing from the branches and leaves pleasing her slick skin. The rest of the group surrounded her on either side. They were enjoying the wild dog meat that had just got done cooking over a fire.

Octavia glanced around the small crowd that was surrounding her, a frown coming back in response, the melancholy sour atmosphere hitting her. Letting her head bow, she sighed under her breath, allowing only herself to hear it.

The grief and sadness that engulfed her was one of a kind, something unique in it's own way and she hated feeling this way. She hated the gripping sadness that held her heart in it's hand. She hated the grief she felt for every death. She hated it.

She wanted to go back to times where she remember being somewhat happy for the time being. 

Seeing the sun peek over the trees, and feeling the heat baking her face, Octavia leaned her head farther into the tree.

THEIR stomachs were filled with meat and protein, and now water was the one thing they failed to find, until now.

"What is this?" Daryl asked, stepping in front of everyone, his back tense.

What laid in front of the group was several jugs of water on the road they had found, a single piece of paper attached to them that read; FROM A FRIEND.

"We can't drink it," Rick stated, his beard getting out of hand. "We don't know who it's from."

"Somebody could've put something in it," Carol pointed out, her large gun strapped across her body.

"Somebody's been watching us," Cora spoke up, a growl caught in her throat. She stood beside her brother, both of them with their arms crossed and eyes trained on the surroundings. But, since they were all weak from barley surviving the past week just walking, their heightened senses weren't as good as before.

"They must've known we'd come this way,"

"We haven't heard or seen anything for miles," Jess spoke up, her voice sore and scratchy.

Octavia stood to the side as everyone began to argue and allowed her eyes to wander over to the water. Her whole body was drawn to it, the sight of the bottles making her mouth water. The more they argued, the more infuriated she became, so finally she made a move. She grabbed a water bottle, opened it up, and went to take a drink.

As the water was about to fall into her mouth, the bottle was slapped away from her, and she looked up to be met by the face of Stiles.

"Are you freaking serious!? That–that water could be poisoned. Like totally poisoned. Completely poisoned. The kind of poison that kills you," He rambled, throwing his hands up in the air to get his point across.

"I needed to know if it was poisoned as you like to put it, Stiles," Octavia told him, her hands going to her hips as thunder was heard.

Octavia is jumped in shock before smiling as rain came down on them. A bubbled laugh escaped her lips and she held up a empty water bottle and started collecting the rain.

As a lot of thunder could be heard, they looked up to see a bunch of really dark clouds making their way towards them.

The rain, it felt like heaven, rushing down her skin, drenching both her skin and her clothing. Her shirt slapping to her skin with ease and her hair slowly matting with the liquid. Her skin felt as if it was tainted and the water was innocent, washing the memories, the sinned actions away.

With her head tilting upwards, she opened her mouth and let the liquid run, drenching her dried tongue. It was the first thing she's had to quench her ever lasting thirst in weeks. 

She closed her eyes, but as soon as she did that, Beth's face popped into her head.

Octavia immediately went straight-face and looked to the ground with sad blue eyes.

Why did it have to be her? She was so innocent and pure. She didn't deserve to die.

Suddenly, a clash of harsh thunder crackled against the sky, shaking the ground, and allowing the skies to grow darker with violent clouds and thrashing winds. 

"Let's get moving!"

"There's a barn!"

OCTAVIA woke up with a start, feeling her eyes peel open, and she was met by the concealing dark. and it took bet a moment to remember where she was.

Twisting her body to turn, her back and neck cracked and ached, and she sighed deeply.

Flashes of hot lightening ran through the cracks of the barn, that being the only source of light. It flashed and shook the barn in a sense, and made Octavia jump a little in her spot upon not expecting it.

The fire had long died out and left the atmosphere cold and iced, the ground felt chilled and the thrashing winds from outside, seeped through the cracks in between the wood of the barn and swept over the warm bodies inhabiting it.

With another flash of lighting did Octavia finally see something that made her spine shiver in fright. Daryl, Maggie, and Sasha were all pushing up against the doors of the barn, the thrashing winds and growls hitting her ears and pounding against the wood splintered doors.

"Son of a bitch!"

Octavia didn't waste any time before she sprung up and took off running, her feet hitting the compacted ground harshly, and her threw her body against the doors, the splinters digging into her skin, but she didn't care.

The door bounced back violently, the herd-dozens and dozens of the undead-pounded at the dry rotted doors, pounding and pushing their bodies into the wood, searching for something to tame the never ending hunger that inhabited their brains.

But despite the weight, Octavia pushed back harder and harder.

Soon, others joined, and more hands were digging into the wood and pushing back with the muscles they had developed over the months.

And then the rest came. Rick and Daryl were on either side of Octavia. Abraham, body larger than anyone else, shoved the doors full force, causing them to double forward, only for the doors to bounce back, with even more force from the undead.

Octavia's body slammed harder into the doors, using whatever strength, whatever she had left in her weakened body, whatever she had left to offer, she pushed it all forward. Her hands were shoved out in front of her, pressing into the wood, and she allowed the splinters to take home in her skin. She allowed her hands to rub raw from the friction. She allowed it because she didn't have any other choice.

When pack joined, everyone doubled over harshly as the door was shut with more force than they were ready for, but it still wasn't enough against the raging storm and hungry walkers. The door pushed back, and it pushed back harder once more walkers decided to join the frenzy.

Heat surrounded Octavia. the warm bodies with only one thing on their minds.

Survival.

The wind howled against their eardrums, and the thunder pounded against the earth, plummeting so harshly, so violently.

Pushing with more force than ever, Octavia watched through the cracks in between the slacks of wood, the undead coming in dozens as they continued to ram their bodies against the only thing separating them. Their decayed skin and the horrid smell was enough for her to brace her arms and shove harder.

The rain, sloshing through the cracks and the ground dampened her body, and she bit my lip, the only thing she could do to prevent the straggled screams leaving her throat, and it got to a point where she could taste the blood, the brilliant metallic liquid rushing down her throat.

With thrashing lightening, her feet began to slide, her boots, so worn out and on the edge of tearing, slid in the slick mud. But she kept ramming her legs back up, taking large steps in hopes of her feet to stay, but they kept sliding and sliding and sliding. And she kept pushing and pushing.

The lightening, it flashed so quickly, so violently, it was like strobe lights.

And Octavia felt sick, tired, so overwhelmed and drained, but she couldn't stop.Because it didn't matter how she felt or what she wanted. It was about what she needed to do.

And this was what she needed to do.

Octavia needed to protect the people that surrounded her. The people she would've considered strangers years ago. The people who she considered family and pack.

And with everyone together, the entire group, weak and drained, breaking by the second emotionally and physically, they all came together.

They were in this together.

After trailing along like they had nothing left in their souls, after everything they've lost, everything that had been so violent ripped from their grips.

Their homes, their loved ones, anything and everything they remotely cared more, gone... they were too strong to let go.

They were no longer the walking dead. They were no longer lost in the ashes.

They were family and they were going to continue fighting with everything in them.