𝗦𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗥𝗦
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE!

〔  season two, episode fifteen 〕

𝑪𝑨𝑺𝑺𝑨𝑵𝑫𝑹𝑨 𝑻𝑼𝑮𝑮𝑬𝑫 𝑶𝑵 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑺𝑻𝑹𝑨𝑷 𝑶𝑭 𝑯𝑬𝑹 𝑩𝑨𝑮, glancing up at Nick as he pulled his jacket on before she let her eyes travel over the rest of the colony, she knew leaving was the safest option but as she looked at all the people, the children they were leaving to their deaths – a part of her felt guilty that they didn't even try to help.

Cassandra felt a tug at her white t-shirt. Looking down, she saw the little girl. The little girl whose life was being dictated by faith.

"You..come and play," the little girl asked, struggling with her English. Cassandra smiled sadly, crouching down to face her, pushing a Strand of hair out of the girls face

"I wish I could, but i have to go, okay? Me and Nick we have to go, " Cassandra whispered, noticing the disappointed look on her face, the abandonment feeling she herself was so used to

Nick stared at Cassandra, the saddened look in her eyes. They both understood it wasn't safe to stay, but it didn't mean they didn't feel bad leaving everybody else behind.

Nick caught a glimpse of Luciana helping Alejandro into the middle of the colony. Reaching out, he placed his hand on Cassandra's shoulder

"We gotta go, Cass," he mumbled, helping her up,

The two of them crossed the colony to the wall, and both of them stared out at the dead that protected the colony. Nick's thumb softly stroked Cassandra's knuckles, grazing over the cold stone that sat on her finger — an idea sparked.

Nick suddenly dropped her hand, climbing on top of the bus. Making Cassandra stare at him confused, but she knew this was how he thought. He just did it and then explained it later.

He sighed jumping back down, the two of them made their way through the bus, Nick killed one of the dead, covering Cassandra in there guts and blood — something she was ashamed to admit she had gotten use to — use to it like Nick.

It was survival.

After covering himself, Nick wrapped his hand around hers, leading her towards the exit. Cassandra went along with him, the thought of them being back on the road again playing in her mind as they walked through the empty street's

Cassandra face morphed into one of confusion as she heard helicopter blades,
Like back on LA when the military moved in,

She followed Nick's eyes, realising he had heard the same thing, Nick took his binoculars facing it towards the north, where Cassandra knew the border was

"Holy shit," Nick whispered,

"What?" Cassandra asked,

"There's a border, and it looks like a  military camp," Nick told her,

Cassandra nodded, biting her lip. Their previous interaction with the military hadn't gone well before. The bombing in LA, the killing on the boat — but maybe it would be a solution. Maybe instead of running and leaving the people. They could help them and then leave after

She glanced up at Nick. He always ran. Always. And this time, she was condoning it. She shouldn't be. She shouldn't be willing to leave all those people behind. Not like they left Madison and Alicia.

"Nick, we need to stop running. You can't always run. We can't leave those people to die. "

♱

As night fell, Cassandra and Nick snuck back into the Colony. Nick went to talk to Alejandro, and Cassandra went to find Luciana. She knew if Nick had any chance of getting through to him, he had to do it alone.

Opening Luciana's trailer door slowly, she noticed the little girl cradled in her arms as she let out small sobs

Luciana looked up, hearing her door open, her eyes widening in question before whispering something to the little girl

And before she knew the little girl had pulled herself away from Luciana and lunched herself into Cassandra's arms, who automatically held her tighter. A soft smile appearing on her face

"Luciana, we have to go. All of us"

"Why do you care now? You and Nick were gonna leave us all, " Luciana challenged

"You're right. But that's all Nick's ever known, and I was scared. But I can't leave innocent people behind to die. We need to go, Lucy. You don't want to leave your people, not this place. Your home is with your people. Like mine is with Nick, " Cassandra whispered as she rocked slightly almost instinctively as she held the small child

Luciana listened to Cassandra and slowly nodded. She was right. Her home were her people

"Lucy, you could be a great leader to these people. You fight for them. And they respect you, " Cassandra told her."They don't need Alejandro. They need you to tell them it's okay. It's okay to be afraid and not to live blindly on faith. "

Nick walked through the door, his eyes automatically finding Cassandra and his life flashed before his eyes, seeing her hold the child and rocking her so gently, so motherly. A soft smile graced his lips as he imagined that life with her, their own child in her arms.

But he shook his head, the thought vanishing. Knowing especially now that couldn't happen. They were in the real world with a big problem

"We're going. Alejandro he knows this is the right call. He told me if they follow me, I will have weight to hold, and I'm ready for that, " Nick whispered, glancing at Cassandra, reaching out to pull her towards him. His hands rested on her hips as she still held the child, and he glanced down, smiling

"—I'm ready for it. I know I can do it because I have you to keep me on track. " Nick smiled before turning his gaze to Luciana,"but we have to go tonight. they're coming tomorrow. We have to go right now, and we need you to stand with us, Lucy. These people trust you, so we need you. "

Luciana watched them both carefully. They had changed a lot from the two stupid teenagers she brought in. Almost dying out in the waste land. She trusted them.
She saw that they were only trying to help. She had even seen Cassandra step out of her shell

"Okay. I'm with you. "

♱

Cassandra lifted the child into her arms, knowing how exhausted she probably was.
They had been walking all night and all morning. The whole colony following behind them. Everybody covered in the blood of the walkers from the wall.

They had all followed Nick and Cassandra, who were leading them North with the help of Luciana

Nick glanced at Cassandra as the child spoke to her

"Cass, where are we going?"

"North," the brunette whispered, glancing up at Nick, who smiled. For miles, they continued to walk the hot Mexican sun shining down on them, their tired feet dragging them across the roads, the smell of rotten corpses filling everyone's senses

As they all followed them.

A few hours later, they had reached an underpass, littered with abandoned cars and the dead, walking, and the ones that had been put down. Cassandra had passed the little girl to Luciana as Nick walked ahead

Dropping his bag and reaching for his binoculars

"What is it?" Cassandra questioned as she walked towards him, her converses scraping across the road. She picked at the dry blood on her skin

"Just trying to get my bearings." Nick pulled the binoculars down, reaching out for Cassandra handing them to her."It's some kind of refugee camp."

Cassandra took them, focusing on where Nick was pointing. People started to move forward, seeing it off in the distance themselves — speaking amongst themselves

"A couple hours walk, maybe."

Cassandra watched the helicopter through the binoculars, smiling as she did. Cassandra pulled the binoculars down, but she as she did she heard something, almost like someone had hit the car quickly scaning her surroundings she saw a man with a rifle

"Nick!" She screamed but she was to late the bullet hit her shoulder, she fell to the ground leaning against the car, Nick fell beside her — all Cassandra could focus on was the searing pain in her shoulder

The colony screams and shouts, turning into a haze along with the gun fire. Hissing in pain, she pushed her hand into the gunshot wound. She couldn't tell if it had gone through or not

The people from the Colony ran in fear, and Cassandra couldn't blame them. Nick shot up after a moment of shock. Seeing Cassandra witherin in pain, he pulled her up, helping her walk to cover.

She cried in pain, her hand gripping tightly onto his arm

"Nick," she cried, wincing. A bullet flew past them, making Nick shield her with his body before pulling back and checking her wound

"I don't want to die," she cried as she stared at him, her word's made his gaze snap up to meet her stare. He felt guilty again he had brought her out here. Again, he had put her life at risk because she would follow him anywhere

Where he went, she went.

Cassandra gasped as a man carrying a rifle found them, holding them at gun point. Nick shielded her with his own body. He wasn't going to let anything happen to her while he was still alive

"Boys, we got a bleeder."

Nick panicked as he looked around. He couldn't see a way out of this. Not this time.

They ripped Nick away from Cassandra, grabbing ahold of her roughly before throwing her against the floor. She cried out in pain, trying to lift herself up, but she couldn't the pain in her shoulder to much

"Let her go! Don't hurt her!" Nick screamed, trying to fight against them. Right now, he didn't care what happened to him. They threw him to the floor roughly

Nick tried to get to her, and he tried. He started crawling towards her, his eyes focused solely on her — if this is how they died. He would fight for her every second. He wouldn't give up

Cassandra watched as he tried to reach her, huddled on the floor in pain. She could feel herself slipping. She watched as they kicked him to the ground, but he still fought. She cried out as they put a gun to him and knocked him out

"No!" She screamed, trying to get to him, but the men grabbed her, pushing down on her gunshot wound the pain, making her black out

As she slowly fell into the unconscious. Her eyes focused on the ring that sat on her finger. She smiled, the memory of that night still fresh in her mind

It seemed even though the garden of Eden burned long ago and the serpents divided.
Nick and Cass were about to find their own serpent, and Cass may be tempted just as Eve was. Only time will tell as they continued to survive the cruel world of the undead.