Vatos.

CHAPTER FOUR , ALWAYS HAVE A FISH FRY BEFORE DYING

a/n : hehe Hiiiii 🫶

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Elliot noticed Jimmy had been digging a hole since the sunrise. No one knew why he was digging the hole. And they hadn't gone up there to check on him. The boy was a little worried for Jimmy but also curious. So, he made his way up the hill that Jimmy had been located at all morning. Jimmy hears exhausted breathing from afar. He turns and sees Elliot walking up the hill. Elliott lets out a heavy breath and waves a hand, "Hey, Jimmy!"

Jimmy looks back at the hole he was digging. Elliot frowns, "All righty." he makes his way over to the man. "What are you working on?"

"Nothing, go back to camp, Eli."

Elliot grimaces at the nickname. "Only my dad calls me that. Especially when he's pissed."

The teenage boy cautiously walks over to Jimmy. He then stands on his tiptoes to look at the home he was digging. "Pretty deep. What's it for?"

Jimmy halts his digging and turns to Elliot. The boy presses his lips into a small smile, which causes Jimmy's frustration to drop. Jimmy softly laughs and wipes the sweat from his forehead. He may have been frustrated, but he couldn't stay mad at Elliott. He was a good kid that was just worried about his friend.

"Anybody know you're here?" Jimmy avoids Elliot's question. Elliot frowns, "No, but, I don't think they'd mind. My dad trusts you."

Jimmy's small smile falls, he looks back at the joke and Elliot notices the grim expression across his face. "Can I help?"

Jimmy pulls his brows together. "Seriously?"

Elliot shrugs, "I finished all my chores."

Jimmy hesitates and Elliot takes a step forward. "I have nothing else to do and I won't tell anyone." He holds his arms out.

Jimmy keeps his eyes on the boy, then he looks back at the hole he had been digging. He looks back at Elliot. Jim didn't want to be curt and standoffish, especially with a kid as kindhearted as Elliot; but he didn't need anyone around him while he was doing this.

"Elliot, don't worry about me, okay? Just go back to camp." Jim sounded tired.

Jimmy goes back to digging, his back turned to the boy. Elliot bites the inside of his cheek with worry. Even though, he made his way back to camp; Elliott still had his mind on Jimmy and what he was doing up there. And just from one glance at the boy, Dale knew something was bothering him.

"Elliot, what's going on?"

The brunette boy lifts his head to look at Dale, who is on top of the R.V. Elliot looks around for a moment, he doesn't want to worry everyone. He steps closer to the R.V. "Jimmy has been up there all morning." he motions over to the top of the hill. Dale looks up at Jimmy, who is still digging a hole. Elliot lets out a small breath, "I went over there and he was digging. He didn't want to stop either."

"Okay, well...how 'bout I go up there and see if he'll at least drink some water? Make sure everything's all right?" Dale gives Elliot a small yet reassuring smile. Elliot lets out a breath of relief. If Jimmy would listen to anyone, it would be Dale.

So, this made Elliot feel a whole lot better.

...

Reese watched Logan from afar with her back against the R.V. out of curiosity, she pushed herself off the vehicle and walked toward Logan. Logan's eyes were trained on her scarred knuckles and she hadn't put her hearing aids in since last night. She didn't realize that Reese had walked over to her.

So when she saw, out of the corner of her eye, someone take a seat beside her on the log; her heart jumped into her throat. She quickly turns to Reese and sees her lips moving. The brunette rolls her eyes, she raises a hand; which causes Reese to stop talking. Reese keeps her eyes on Logan and she watches the 15-year-old dig in her pants pockets. "What's going on here?"

Logan pulls out a pair of hearing aids and slips them onto her ears. Reese parts her lips, "Ohhhhh" it clicks for her.

As soon as they were adjusted and on, Logan looked back at Reese.

"I didn't know you had hearing aids," Reese says.

Logan blinks, "You've never noticed?"

Reese shrugs, "Never cared."

Logan slowly nods her head with a quick raise of her brows. She's not even surprised that Reese responded like that. "Why'd you come over here?" her tone was firm.

Reese frowns and nods, "Okay, that reaction is fair." she shrugs. "Because I will admit, I've been--"

"--a bitch." Logan finishes.

Reese points at Logan, "Yeah, exactly." a smile forms on her lips.

Logan keeps her eyes on the ground, not interested in this conversation. Reese presses her tongue against the inside of her cheek. "I'm not trying to steal your boyfriend."

Logan pulls her brows together and looks at Reese. "Excuse me?" she couldn't stop the laugh from escaping.

Reese turns her head and Logan follows her line of sight. The 15-year-old raises her brows. Elliot was sitting on the ground with his legs crossed and he was playing rock, paper, scissors with Carl and Sophia. Logan never understood how he could be so entertained by playing the same game almost every day. Logan then looks back at Reese, realizing what she was getting at.

"Oh...you think I like Elliot?" Logan couldn't stop the laugh from escaping. Reese turns to her with a small smirk. "So, I'm wrong?"

Logan covers her mouth and then wipes, "Oh, you are so wrong." she holds her hands up. "I'm gay and Elliot is not my type."

Reese slightly opens her mouth and slowly nods her head. "Is that right?"

Logan then presses her lips together. "Yeah."

"So, what's with the jealousy?"

"Jealousy about what?" Logan scoffs. "You and Elliot can do whatever you want. I could care less." she then squints her eyes. "You do realize that Elliot and I have been friends since the day we were born, right?"

"So, he's said."

"So, why would I be intimidated by some nobody that everyone can't trust?" A smirk was ghosting Logan's lips.

Reese's smirk drops and she quirks a brow, almost like she is agreeing with Logan. "It's going to take a lot more than whatever you've been doing to get Eli and me to hate each other."

"I was just bored--"

"So, you decide to try and fuck up my relationship with Elliot?" Logan growls. Reese slightly leans toward the brunette. "Listen, I just needed to know what kind of people I'm dealing with."

"And now you know?"

Reese nods her head, "Now I know."

Logan keeps her eyes glued on Reese. "So, you're done messing with me?"

An amused smirk forms on Reese's lips. "That's still to be determined."

Logan opens her mouth, ready to snap back; but Reese holds a pointer finger up. "But, I will try to be less shit-starty."

Logan doesn't break eye contact. "I don't get it, why the sudden change of heart?"

"Your dad." Reese sighs.

The brunette blinks, "What about my father?"

"He told me about your IED and how me fucking with you would...ignite it, I guess." Reese shrugs.

Logan's jaw clenches. Even when she doesn't know it, her father has defended her. That just made her feel even more guilty about the way she treated him before he left for the city once again.

"Your dad is a pig."

Logan's eyes slightly widen and her chest tightens. "What the fuck does that mean?"

"Job wise." Reese holds her hands up. "I don't like cops. But, he seems like a good man from what I can tell and his survival instincts are...better than some."

"Your point?"

"My point is, Lo-Lo," Reese chuckles. "he will be fine."

"Everyone has survival instincts."

Logan softly chuckles, "Not Eli."

Reese rolls her eyes with a smile, "What?"

"I am so fucking serious." Logan looks back at Reese. "He has hope for everything and everyone in this world."

"Well, shit." Reese winces. "What the fuck is his old man teaching him?"

Logan looks back at Elliott. "Everything he should." even though Logan hasn't been Shane's number one fan recently, she could still admit that he was a good teacher. "Shane's a good dad. And he teaches Elliott about all the bad shit in this world. He's just very optimistic."

"And what about you?" Reese pulls her eyes away from Elliot and looks at Logan. "You have hope?"

Logan picks at the grass. "Nope--it's gone."

Reese raises her brows with interest and she scoots closer to Logan. "Is that right?"

Logan notices Reese eyeing her. The brunette then scrunches her brows together. "Wait--did you actually find that attractive?"

Reese tilts her head, "And what if I did?"

Logan chuckles, "Sorry, but I'm not interested."

"Why?"

"Easy," Logan smirks. "because I don't trust you."

Reese tilts her head back and laughs. "You are very smart to think that."

"Oh, baby. Will you look at that?"

Reese and Logan look over at the two sisters holding lines of fish they had caught. Logan softly chuckles, she stands up and walks over to them.

"Ladies..." Morales looks at Andrea and Amy. "...because of you, my children will eat tonight. Thank you."

"Thank Dale," Andrea replies. "It's his canoe and gear."

"Mom, Logan look! Look at all the fish!" Carl exclaims. Fascination was written across his face.

Logan chuckles and ruffles Carl's hair. She looks at the sisters, "Where'd you guys learn to do this?"

"Our dad."

"Can you teach me how to do that?" Carl's eyes widen.

"Sure," Amy exclaims. "I'll teach you all about nail knots and stuff." she then looks at Lori. "If that's okay?"

"You won't catch me arguing." Lori chuckles.

Andrea notices Dale making his way back over to the group. "Hey, Dale. When's the last time you oiled those line reels? They are a disgrace."

Elliott watches Dale walk over to the group with a troubled look on his face. The boy tenses and quickly walks closer to the man.

"I, uh--I don't want to alarm anyone, but we may have a bit of a problem." Dale then points up on the hill where Jimmy is still digging.

"He didn't even take the water?" Elliott asks.

Shane looks at his son, "You knew about this?"

Elliott looks at his dad. "Yeah, I checked on Jimmy earlier, but it didn't seem like he was going to listen to me." he looks at Dale. "What do you think we should do?"

"Talk to him as a group, maybe?" Andrea suggests.

Logan lets out a soft chuckle. Not even meaning to add to the conversation. She speaks, "You suggestin' an intervention?"

Logan wish she never opened her mouth.

☆

"What do you want?"

"We're all just a little concerned, that's all." Shane softly assures.

"Elliott says you've been out here for hours," Morales says.

"So?"

"So, why are you digging?" Shane asks. "You heading to China, Jim?"

"What does it matter? I'm not hurting anyone." Jimmy forces out a chuckle.

"Yeah, except maybe yourself," Elliott speaks, taking a small step forward.

"It's 100 degrees today. You can't keep this up." Dale adds.

Jimmy doesn't even stop digging, "Sure I can. Watch me."

Lori walks up to Jimmy. "Jim, they're not gonna say it so I will. You're scaring people."

Jimmy stops and turns to Lori.

"You're scaring my son and Carol's daughter."

"They got nothing to be scared of," Jimmy assures.

Carl squeezes Logan's hand and she looks down at him. Even though Carl wasn't staring at her, she could see the fear in his body language. Logan didn't know what else do to, so she gently pulled Carl more into her side.

"I mean, what the hell, people?" Jimmy continues. "I'm out here by myself. Why don't you all just go and leave me the hell alone?" he continues to dig.

"We think that you need to take a break, okay?" Shane suggests. "Why don't you go and get yourself in the shade? Some food maybe. I'll tell you what--maybe in a little bit I'll come out here and I'll help you myself."

"Jim, just tell me what it's about. Why don't you just go ahead and give me that shovel?"

"Or what?"

Elliot tenses when he watches Jimmy turn to Shane.

"There is no or what." Shane quickly speaks. The last thing he wanted right now was conflict. "I'm asking you. I'm coming to you and I'm asking you, please. I don't want to have to take it from you."

"And if I don't, then what?" Jimmy challenges. "Then you're gonna beat my face in like Ed Peletier, aren't you?"

"Y'all seen his face, huh? What's left of it." Jimmy raises his voice. "See, now that's what happens when someone crosses you."

"That was different, Jim," Shane states.

"You weren't there. Ed was out of control." Amy speaks up. "He was hurting his wife."

"That is their marriage. That is not his." Jimmy snaps. "He is not judge and jury. Who voted you King Boss, huh?"

"Jim, I'm not here to argue with you, all right?" Shane reaches for the shovel. "Just give me the shovel, okay?"

Jimmy pulls the shovel away from Shane. "No, no, no." he holds his free hand out to Shane.

"Jim--"

Jimmy shoves Shane back and swings the shovel at him. Elliot felt his entire body jump from the sudden swing. Shane ducks and tackles Jimmy to the ground. Jimmy lets out a scream of defiance, "You got no right!"

Shane softly shushes Jimmy and forces him onto his stomach. He slaps handcuffs on Jimmy's wrists. "Jim. Jim, nobody's gonna hurt you. You hear me?"

"Nobody is going to hurt you."

"That's a lie. That's the biggest lie there is." Jimmy whimpers. "I told that to my wife and my two boys. I said it 100 times. It didn't matter."

"They came out of nowhere. There were dozens of 'em." Jimmy's voice was soft and weak. "Just pulled 'em right out of my hands. You know, the only reason I got away was cause the dead were too busy eating my family."

Elliot couldn't stop the tears in his eyes from forming.

...

Reese hadn't joined the rest of the group to intervene with Jimmy. But she was left by herself at the camp, which she loved. Reese had been looking around the camp, making herself aware of where everything was. She always felt more comfortable when she knew things. It made her feel safe. If Reese walked into a situation clueless, she wouldn't feel confident in surviving. And Reese Evans always survived. She shifts her eyes to the forest.

Reese looked around for a moment, just to be sure no one was around. She walks into the forest, her hand latching onto her pocket knife. Leaves crunch under her black vans with every step she takes. Reese remembers exactly where she was going. She took this route every day since she'd joined the group. It wasn't a surprise that Reese still didn't trust them. So, when they first asked her if she had any other weapons (besides her knives) on her. Reese told them she didn't.

Reese had finally made it to her destination, she was standing near a tall sycamore tree. She looks up at the branches, then her eyes shift to the forest floor, and kicks the fallen leaves around. Reese falls to her knees and shifts the leaves around. Once the leaves were moved, there was a small hidden space in the crevice of the tree trunk. She sticks her hand into the hole of the trunk and pulls out the bag. Reese drags her green bag and pulls it open.

Reese wasn't a terrible person. I mean, she had a conscience telling her to let the group know that she had a bag they were unaware of. But she would always ignore it. Okay, so maybe that did make her a terrible person. Reese just didn't care about being perceived that way.

The 16-year-old pulls the black handgun from the bag. She pulls the magazine out of the gun and examines the ammo. Reese slips the gun into the back of her waistband and throws her bag onto her shoulders. She stands up and makes her way back to the campsite.

Just in time, Reese heard scraping footsteps approaching her. She quickly flicks her pocket knife open. She turns and her nerves settle when she sees the group walking back into camp. But the teenager quickly pulls her brows together when Jimmy is in cuffs and being led over to a tree by Shane.

Elliot walks over to Reese, "Hey, everything okay?"

Reese keeps her eyes on Shane tying Jimmy to the trunk of a tree. "Shouldn't I be asking you that?" she finally looks at Elliot with a small smirk.

Elliot lets out a small breath, "Right, uh..." he folds his arms. Reese watches as Elliot fidgets momentarily. "we thought it would be a good idea to talk with Jimmy as a group."

"And I'm guessing it failed?" Reese motions her head over to Jimmy. Elliot looks back at Jimmy, "He tried to hit my dad."

Reese snorts.

"With a shovel."

Reese laughs harder than before. Elliot pulls his brows together from Reese's sudden laughter. She raises a hand and grasps Elliot's arm. "Wait, so...you're tying him up to a tree because of a little heat stroke?"

"He almost hurt my dad," Elliot repeats. "God, I should've never bothered him." he covers his eyes with his hands.

Reese then chuckles, "Look, if you hadn't told anyone about Jimbo, he would be a reincarnated corpse coming after us." she looks at Elliot and raises her brows. "Are you...seriously upset over this?--Elliot, you helped him."

"Did I?" Elliot looks at Reese with glassy eyes. The girl takes a small step back. She was in disbelief over how emotional Elliot was. She honestly didn't think a guy could be this in touch with his emotions. Reese wasn't even this emotional. "Okay, look..." she clears her throat. "I don't do the whole comforting thing..." she shifts her stance. "But, just know that you did help Jim. And if you need any more reassurance..." she touches his shoulders. Elliot freezes and he looks into Reese's eyes before looking back at her hand.

"...ask Logan."

Elliot blinks, he stays silent with his eyes still glued to Reese's. Suddenly, he starts to laugh which causes a small smile to form on Reese's lips. The girl pulls her hand off of Elliot, and the boy could've sworn he felt his body get colder.

☆

Amy and Andrea catching all that fish was something the majority of the group decided to celebrate. So, they made a larger fire pit than normal and sat all the chairs and crates around the pit.

"I built up the rocks all around." Morales voices. "So, the flames can be a little higher and have 'em be hidden."

Reese keeps her arms folded as she watches Morales gain praise she didn't truly understand. Shouldn't they always have the rocks higher up, so the fire can be hidden?

It's like she could feel the new yet familiar presence next to her. She shakes her head, "I don't get it."

Elliot looks down at Reese. "What?"

Reese motions her head to the fire. "The laughing, the celebrating..." she bunches her shoulders. "Why are they so happy over food? Like it's a win? It's a necessity."

Elliot blinks at the girl. He could sense that she was genuinely frustrated by this. "Well, because it is a win, Reese."

Reese lets out a small scoff and looks to the side. Elliot moves his head from side to side. "It's a small win. And since the world fell, we haven't had a lot of those." he softly exhales. "We celebrate what we can."

Reese keeps her eyes on the fire, then her eyes shift to Morales and his family. They looked so happy. She couldn't understand why they were so happy, especially with the way the world is now. And Elliot could see that from the way she nibbled on her lower lip.

"I think...with time, you'll get it." Elliot nudges her arm. Reese pulls her brows together and looks at him. With time. He said that like she was supposed to be staying with this group forever. Reese's chest tightens and her skin begins to crawl. She didn't want to stay with these people. She just needed to figure out her next move. Then she would be on her way.

The sun had set and the only thing lighting up the camp was the large fire pit. The group had been talking for a couple of hours, passing food around, and having a good time. Logan was seated next to Carl with Lori on the other side of Carl. Elliot sat beside his father, but now and then he would shift his gaze to the new survivor. Reese had a plate of food, but she wasn't joining in on the conversations. She couldn't necessarily join in the conversations if she was sitting away from the group.

"I've got to ask you, man," Morales speaks. "It's been driving me crazy."

"What?"

"That watch." Morales points.

Dale couldn't help but smile, "What's wrong with my watch?"

"I see you every day, the same time, winding that thing like a village priest saying mass," Morales explains.

"I've wondered this myself," Jacqui speaks.

Dale holds his hands out, "I'm missing the point."

"Unless I've misread the signs, the world seems to have come to an end," Jacqui states. "At least hit a speed bump for a good long while."

"But there's you every day winding that stupid watch."

"Time. It's important to keep track, isn't it?" Dale questions. "The days at least." he then looks to the blonde sitting next to him for backup. "Don't you think, Andrea?"

Andrea raises her brows and holds her hands up, telling Dale not to drag her into this conversation.

"I like--I like what, um, a father said to son when he gave him a watch that had been handed down through generations," Dale pronounces. "He said, 'I give you the mausoleum of all hope and desire, which will fit your individual needs no better than it did mine or father's before me; I give it to you not that you may remember time, but that you may forget it for a moment now and then and not spend all of your breath trying to conquer it."

The entire group sits there in silence, letting Dale's words sink in.

"You are so weird," Amy speaks.

The group bursts into laughter while Reese carelessly rolls her eyes and looks back at her food.

"It's not me. It's Faulkner." Dale defends. "William Faulkner. Maybe my bad paraphrasing."

Amy stands up from her spot, which causes Andrea's heart to jump. "Where are you going?"

Amy's face flushes, "I have to pee." she whispers, but everyone hears her. The girl then walks away from the group before muttering. "Jeez, you try to be discreet around here..."

The group begins to laugh. Elliot shifts his gaze to Reese, who is sitting away from the group; her back against a tree. He gnaws on his lower lip and he looks at Shane. "Hey, Dad. I'll be right back." he softly speaks before getting up. Shane follows his son and watches as he sits next to the new survivor. Shane didn't know what to make of Reese. But he knows that Elliot took a liking to her fairly quickly, and Elliot always had a problem trusting people he shouldn't. So, he decided to assign himself as the person to keep an eye on her.

"Hey."

Reese looks at Elliot and raises her brows. "Hi."

"How's the fish?" Elliot asks.

Reese lets out a breath through her nose and nods her head. "It's good. They did good." she goes back to eating. The girl looks back at the group surrounded by the campfire and her chest tightens. They all seemed so happy with their families. She felt her skin begin to crawl again thinking about the words Elliot spoke earlier.

"Whatever you were saying today...about this being a win," she looked at Elliot and his eyes were already on hers. "I'm trying to get it."

Elliot couldn't stop the smile from forming on his lips. Reese inhales a small breath and her leg presses against Elliot's. "I would've never tried to get something for someone."

"So, I'm the exception?" Elliot's smile brightens more than before.

Reese rolls her eyes, "No, I pity you. That's why I'm trying to understand."

Elliot keeps his eyes on hers. "I dunno...I think I might be the exception."

Reese softly exhales and shakes her head. Screams erupt through the campsite, causing both teenagers to look away from each other. Reese drops her plate and stands up with Elliot.

"Eli!"

Elliot turns to his dad, who has a gun in his hand. The boy swallows, "Come on." he grabs Reese's hand and pulls her over to the group. Reese didn't notice Elliot grabbing her hand and pulling her behind him. But she did notice when Elliot began to step behind her.

She pulled her gun from the waistband, she cocks the gun back, and as soon as she started shooting her gun at the dead; everyone else started fighting back too.

Logan had one hand in her mother's while Carl had his hand in hers. There was so much panic and gun firing, that her mind wasn't able to keep up with everything that was happening. But one thing she did know was that she wasn't leaving her mother and brother's side.

Reese was standing side by side with Shane, both firing their guns.

"Make your way to the R.V.--Go!"

The group tries their best to stick together as they move to the R.V. From afar, Logan can hear her father screaming for them. Logan's back was pinned against the R.V. The walkers dragged closer to the group of survivors.

Logan's eyes blur with tears when she sees the group from Atlanta emerge out of the woods, firing guns.

As soon as the Atlanta group showed up with their guns, the dead quickly fell.

"Logan! Carl! Baby!"

A small cry escapes Logan's lips, she sprints over to Rick. "Dad." she wraps her arms around his middle and he hugs her back with a cry of relief. The entire Grimes family stays together, not separating from the needed hug. Elliot keeps his eyes on the back of Reese, in awe over her. Reese turns around and meets Elliot's starry gaze. "You good?"

Elliot blinks, "Y-Yeah. I'm--"

"You have a gun."

Reese turns and looks at Shane, she looks down at the gun in her hand and raises her brows. "Huh. Looks like I do." she looks back up at the man.

"We asked you when you first got here--"

"Do I have any firearms or any kind of artillery on you besides knives?" Reese repeats the question to the tee. The teenager could see the anger gradually rise in Shane. "I saved your son's ass." Reese chuckles. "Maybe instead of trying to start shit, you can thank me, and hug your son."

Before Shane could say anything else, a gut-wrenching cry was heard from across the camp. Everyone turns their attention to Andrea crying over her little sister's body.

Logan covers her mouth and her hand begins to shake. Lori collapses to her knees, her eyes glued to Andrea and Amy. Logan looked down at her mom, whose body was trembling. At that moment, Logan didn't even care about any of their arguments from the past. She just wanted her mom to know that she wasn't alone.

So, Logan fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around her mother.

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author's note.

RAAAHHHHHH I'm hoping to write more for this book a lot more often. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

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