Day's End

Crossroads

Elizabeth stumbled around the rotten beams of wood that laid upon the ground, making sure her foot landed in just the right places. The house she traversed was mere ashes and smoldered wood at this point, but she trudged on in hopes of finding something that may help her.
Looking back, the young woman yelled, "It's alright, Allie! You can come over now."
The girl, who was far behind the woman, slowly advanced but looked warily about herself. "Are you sure, Elizabeth? They're not here, right?" Allie shouted to the tan woman, her French accent laced within her speech.
Elizabeth looked back at the other, stopping to allow her to catch up. "They managed to burn some houses down, but I think they're gone." With a reassuring smile, she added, "Don't worry, Allie. We'll be fine."
"If you're sure.." The girl mumbled, hopping over a small pile of burnt rubble in her haste to catch up with her companion.
                Once Allie was safe with Elizabeth, the pair walked through the neighborhood, taking in the sight of the houses burned to ash and the paint smeared on the sides of intact buildings. The paint was arranged in the shape of a phoenix, but the currently falling snow hindered the complete view from the two wanderers. Elizabeth pointed to the artwork and said, "See that, Allie?"
The named nodded in response.
"I don't think that's new. I think we'll be safe here."
"Wait- We're staying here?" Allie asked, tapping Elizabeth's shoulder to emphasize her surprise.
"If we find a house that we like; why not?"
"But.. What if they come back through here?"
Elizabeth scoffed playfully, a smile on her face. "I doubt they will. They burned some of the neighborhood, after all."
"Yeah, but-" Allie stopped, her shoulders slumping down. "Who's that?"
              Elizabeth looked forward toward the empty street, only to see a walker stumbling mindlessly towards them. "Oh, that's nothing, Allie. Just a walker."
"Are you sure?" Allie questioned, squinting her eyes in an attempt to see clearly.
"Of course. Who else would-?" Elizabeth's sentence was cut short as the walker took one last step before falling forward onto the pavement. "Come on; let's go check it out," She commanded, stretching out her words as she pulled her knife out of her rather long boots.
               Elizabeth and Allie slowly sulked towards the fallen figure, and both watched in tense silence as they waited for it to do anything. To their surprise, it remained still until Elizabeth decided to push it over onto its back. Disproving Elizabeth's assumption, the figure was not a walker; it was most definitely alive but unconscious.
               The man's eyelids cracked open, and the sudden stream of light caused the already present headache to worsen. He groaned and lifted his arm in a weak attempt to grab at something for support. "Allie, don't!" Elizabeth shouted, grabbing the red-hilted knife from the girl's ready hands. "He's still alive, Allie."
The man's arm retracted to his head to rub the aching spot.
"Can you hear me?" Elizabeth asked, resting her hands on either side of his head. "Can you tell me your name?"
The man coughed violently before croaking out, "My name.. My name is M-Mark."
Allie stepped backwards. "Elizabeth, no! We can't keep him."
"And why not? He needs help, Allie."
"Remember the man Natalie was talking about? This is him!"
"Stop being paranoid. Look at the state he's in, Allie! Even if he did want to do something to her, I doubt he could. Besides, I thought she said he was dead."
"She said she didn't know what happened to him, and that he may as well be."
"I wonder if he knows where her group is, then."
Allie rolled her eyes. "I doubt he would tell, anyways."
With a grunt, Elizabeth heaved Mark to the side to test his weight. "He's heavy. Allie, go back to the group and get the others; tell them we found this neighborhood and Mark."
Allie cast a suspicious glance at her, refusing to move.
"Go on. We can't just let him die."
Allie sighed. "Alright, fine, but I'm telling you, they won't let us keep him."
"Just go; I'll watch him. Be careful."
"I will," she muttered, jogging back the way they came.
                Meanwhile, as Allie ran her way back to their group, Elizabeth lightly tapped the side of Mark's face. "Stay with me, okay? I'm going to get you some water as soon as the others get here," she whispered, checking her surroundings before looking back down at Mark. "Which is hopefully soon."
              Within twenty minutes, Allie had returned with the rest of the group; a measly three people was all that returned. However, within the group was one familiar face: twenty-three-year-old Natalie following Allie and a man. Once Elizabeth caught sight of them, she hurriedly called them over and shouted, "Hurry! He's gonna freeze to death!"
The man took off in a run, slamming into a halt mere feet away from Elizabeth. "Who's this guy? Where'd you find 'im?"
"That doesn't matter, Lucas. Let's just get him inside!"
           Lucas and Elizabeth both heaved Mark up on his feet so his unconscious body was standing in between the two. "Tall.." Elizabeth whispered, practically dragging Mark into the nearest house with Lucas. Allie and Natalie took their time walking behind the others, and, with her, Natalie carried a duffle bag storing the supplies from the small group.
"Did.." Natalie started but decided to rephrase her sentence after a slight pause. "Do you know who this man is?"
"Well, maybe.. He said his name was Mark."
"Mark? You mean-?"
"There are a lot of Marks in this world, Natalie. I don't know. He did only have one arm."
Natalie frowned. "He had both the last time I saw him."
Allie simply shrugged. "Probably lost it to a walker; happens often."
"Yeah.. I guess.."
"And what about the other member of your group? Rose was it? Did she see him?"
"I don't really know. Like I said, we got separated before then."
"Yeah, I know. Sorry about that, by the way." By now, Allie and Natalie had reached the house. "Do you want to see him? Mark, I mean."
Natalie hesitated.
"He probably won't wake up until later, so, y'know."
"Yeah, sure," Natalie mumbled, stepping into the open door.
                 Elizabeth and Lucas had already laid Mark down on the couch, and he lay motionless and unaware of the potential threat that walked near his sleeping form. The thought of killing him, however, hadn't even registered as an option in Natalie's mind; in her mind, everything deserved another chance, so, after looking at him for fleeting moments, she simply stood and left the room.
             Shouts from a connected room drew Natalie's attention from the drawings she had been looking at. Lucas's voice sounded, "Colder? Really? Where do you suggest we go? Canada? Minnesota is cold enough for me!"
"Relax, Lucas! It was only a damn suggestion!"
"I think it's a good idea," Allie broke in, her quiet voice a sort of calm to the clamor.
Natalie peeked inside.
"Natalie! What do you think?" Elizabeth suddenly asked, her gaze directed toward the shy woman.
"Yeah, I think we should.."
"Three against one, Lucas." Turning quickly, Elizabeth exclaimed, "Oh, I forgot! Allie has your knife, Natalie."
Allie's memories seemed to be triggered, too, as she handed Natalie her knife.
              A moan and shuffling caught the attention of the group, and Elizabeth was the first to enter the living room, her own knife in hand. Mark was sitting upright as he sighed and rubbed his eyes with his only hand. "Where am I?" He quietly asked, his tiredness evident in his low voice. "Who are you?"
"We brought you here. Mark, right? You passed out on the street," Elizabeth answered. "Are you alright?"
"Yes, thank you, but-" His eyes fell upon Natalie. "You!" Mark's voice turned into a sudden snarl.
               Natalie yelped in surprise as Mark suddenly lunged forward, only using his raw strength as his weapon.