Hey everyone! Here is the second chapter to my newest story: Living Among The Dead! Thanks so much for all the wonderful reviews and I hope you all keep reading!

When I first awoke, I have to admit I was a bit confused. I expected to open my eyes and see my messy room, not a bale of hay. I sat up slowly, stretching and rubbing my eyes when suddenly it all came rushing back to me: the scream, the monsters, my family, then Shawn, Lee, Clementine, Hershel Green, and now this barn. I tried my best to hold back a sob, but all I did was muffle it as I covered my mouth with filthy hands.

Okay, Emily, calm down. Just take a few deep breaths and you'll be alright. You don't want to wake the other people in here. I told myself, remembering Lee and Clementine behind me. And didn't Hershel say something about another family being here?

I carefully stood up, drying my eyes, and walked over to the halfway open barn door, and peeked outside. The sky was a turned light periwinkle blue as the sun was just beginning to rise. Over in the east it was filled with a pink-ish orange color, but it gradually faded to a light purple, then a blue. It was beautiful, but all it did was bring more tears to my eyes.

Picking up my backpack, I quietly snuck outside and sat against the fence next to the barn In between a few bales of hay. I took out a bottle of water and a granola bar, suddenly realizing just how parched and hungry I was. I sat there for hours, simply watching the sun come up and silently crying some more, thinking about… them. Around nine, or so I guessed, Hershel stepped outside followed by his son. I smiled kindly at him, giving no indication I had been crying all morning, and he turned to his right and went behind the house. Shawn paused, about to follow his father, but once he noticed me he walked up.

"Up already?" He asked and I stood up and stretched.

"Yeah," I said. "Actually, I've been up for quite a while. Now don't get me wrong, I'm beyond thankful for everything, I'm just not quite used to the whole 'waking up in a barn with a bale of hay in my face' thing."

That got a chuckle out of him. "I know what you mean."

Suddenly three other people emerged from the barn and smiled at us. There was an older man, accompanied by whom I assumed were his wife and son. The man and woman appeared to be around their mid-to-late forties while the son looked around Clementine's age.

"Morning," Shawn said with a smile.

"Good morning," the woman said, sounding so motherly it almost brought the tears back into my eyes, but I quickly blinked them away before anyone had noticed.

The other man turned to me. "Hi," he said in a cheery voice, or at least as cheery as one can sound after sleeping in a barn all night. "I'm Kenny. This is my wife Katjaa and my son Duck."

"D-Duck?" I stuttered. "Like the animal?"

This caused the man to laugh. "Yeah, kinda. It's mostly 'cause nothin' bothers him. Like water off a duck's back, y'know?"

I nodded and looked at the boy. He had freckles on his face and dirt in his hair, seeming completely unaffected by the traumatic events that had occurred the past few days.

"Well, I guess it's time to wake them up," Kenny said, and he went inside the barn where Lee and Clementine were still sleeping.

Shawn, Duck and I all walked over to the fence behind the house next to the endless corn fields and Duck immediately hopped onto the tractor. Shawn sat in front of the patch-work barrier and asked me to hold a board in place while he went and got a hammer and a box of nails. I crouched down and did as he asked.

"So what's your story?" He asked once he came back a minute later. Duck had been playing on the tractor in his own little world, completely oblivious to anything we said at the moment.

I blinked a few times and looked at the brunette once again sitting beside me. "W-what?" I asked, attempting to hide my surprise and failing miserably.

"Sorry if it's too personal," he said, picking up a few more nails. "It's just that you were all alone when we found you, and… you looked terrified."

Turning the other direction, I blinked back a few tears, mentally criticizing myself for being such a wimp these past few days. "Yeah, well, things happen." My voice broke mid-sentence and I cleared my throat.

"Look, sorry for asking, it's really none of my business."

"No, it's okay, you should know. I mean after all, you saved my life, right?" I looked over at him and gave a weak smile. When he didn't say anything I began telling him of all the events that occurred up until they found me, speaking softly and keeping my eyes set on the fence in progress. When I was finished Shawn barely had time to respond before Lee walked up and asked if we needed help.

"Actually, do you mind cutting a few of those two-bys to length?" He asked, pointing to a pile of planks and a saw. "It'd save us a lot of time."

Once Lee began sawing the boards in half Shawn spoke again. "My dad doesn't know how bad it is," he said with a sigh.

"No he doesn't," was all Lee said. I simply shook my head.

"Back in Atlanta I saw a guy kill a kid… A boy… Just shot him right in the face."

"Was he… you know…?" I asked.

"I don't even know. He was either attacking the guy or asking for help… He didn't even hesitate. He just turned, put the barrel of the gun right between the kid's eyes and pulled the trigger." He spoke softly, and I noticed the way his brows furrowed as he recalled the disturbing event. "You don't see things like that; it's not like in the movies."

"They don't fall like you'd think," came from the older man.

"So have you had to do it?"

"What?" he replied, sounding either shocked or confused. I couldn't tell.

"Have you had to off one yet?" He repeated more bluntly.

The man's eyes grew dark and he spoke without hesitation. "I bashed a poor girl's brains in," he answered and I assumed he meant the babysitter Clementine told me about.

"Ouch," Shawn grimaced and glanced at me for a moment. If I'm not mistaken, I thought I saw a look of sympathy flash across his eyes before he turned back to Lee. "I don't know if I could do it…"

"Sometimes it's kill or be killed," he replied darkly at the same time I thought it.

"Well I'm just glad we're getting this fence built. Dad just wants to keep this family safe and thinks inviting people in is a bigger threat than whatever's out there." He paused as two more halves of wood fell to the ground. "That's probably all I need cut for now; thanks."

"Is there anything else I can do?"

"I think my dad needs some help in the barn."

"Alright," he began walking away but turned when he got to the freckled boy on the tractor.

"See ya later, Duck," he said and the boy gave a big, goofy smile.

I turned to Shawn. "So…" I started awkwardly. "How's life on the farm?"

He chuckled. "Well, just life, I guess. It's all I've ever known. Same goes for my dad."

"I've always lived in the city." I stated, handing him another nail for the fence. "Not with skyscrapers and all that, just with, like, schools, parks, friendly neighborhoods, things like that; the suburbs I guess."

"Sounds great," he smiled. "The only times I ever go out to the city is with Chet, and it's only for the things we can't make around here."

Suddenly my stomach growled loudly and I blushed, thinking of the granola bars I'd been eating. Seeing the redness in my cheeks, Shawn laughed and stood up, holding out his hand to help me and I accepted his offer.

"Come on," he said with a smile. "Let's go inside and get something to eat."

That was when we heard a Duck scream, and the tractor plowed right into Shawn.

I focused my wide eyes on the boy and that was when I noticed the zombies clawing at him through the fence. More of them showed up quickly, and they began trying to grab Shawn but he couldn't run away.

"Emily!" He shouted desperately. "M-My leg's stuck! Get this thing off me!"

This was the second most terrifying experience in my life and it took me a couple of seconds to realize what he was asking me to do. Dodging the decaying limbs, I grabbed both of Shawn's arms and pulled as hard as I could, only making him scream in pain. That was when Lee showed up, the others running not too far behind.

"What happened?!" He shouted, taking in the whole mess.

"J-just help me get this off of him!" I could hear the panic in my voice and Lee quickly rushed to help, pushing the tractor while I continued pulling him.

I hadn't even noticed Kenny run up and grab his son until Shawn shouted, "Kenny! Help them, please!" Honestly, I had forgotten about Duck.

He stared at us for a second before cowardly backing away, his son in his arms.

"Lee, come on, we can do this!" I was practically screaming and my voice was nearly pure panic as I pushed my muscles to their limit.

But by then it was already too late. All of the sudden the zombies busted through the rest of the fence and one started mashing his teeth into Shawn's neck and the other his stomach.

I couldn't take it; the scene was all too familiar. Lee and I backed away four or five feet and my legs gave way just as Hershel arrived with his gun. The explosion of his gun pierced my ears as the old man interrupted the monsters' feast and canceled out my brief sobs. All was quiet after that. Katjaa was standing in front of Duck and Clementine, both looking as if they'd just been scarred for the rest of their lives, Lee was standing to my right, and Kenny behind me and we all just watched as Hershel bent down and began speaking to his nearly deceased son.

"I'm okay, Pop… I'm okay…" His voice sounded so weak, as if it took every ounce of strength in him to pronounce a single syllable. Just hearing his voice produced more tears from my eyes.

"We're gonna fix you up, don't you worry." That wasn't possible anymore.

"It… I-it almost got me… L-Lee and Emily tried to save me." But we failed.

"I…" I watched him as he took his last breath. The way his desperate eyes locked on his father and then gently fluttered closed. His head fell to the ground and his father let go of his son's limp hand and stood up.

"Get out." He spoke softly, sadly, but then grew furious. "Get the fuck OUT OF HERE!"

I heard a regretful voice behind me. "I'm sorry…"

"Sorry?!" The old man shouted. It took all I had not to look at Shawn's lifeless body. "Your son's alive; you don't get to be sorry!" He then turned to Lee and I and his expression softened a bit. "Y'all tried to help him, but this piece of shit let him die."

"It's nobody's fault…" Lee said softly, but there was a trace of something in his voice, something I couldn't recognize.

"Like hell it isn't!" But suddenly, Hershel's temper died down and I saw the pain and tears in his eyes as he turned and looked at his son again. "Please… just get out and never come back!"

"You got that ride to Macon if you want it." Kenney said to Lee and everybody, including me, began walking to his truck, but I paused in front of the house.

"You comin'?" Lee asked and I brushed hair out of my face.

"Are you sure it's a good idea? I mean, h-he didn't even try to help us back there… what if something like that happens again?"

"Well I guess we deal with it then, but right now we've got a free ride to Macon and I'm planning on taking it. You can stay behind if you want and go off on your own way, but I know you don't want to be around here when…"

I glanced behind me. Hershel was still crying over his son's body and I cringed thinking about Shawn coming back from the dead and feasting on his father.

"Alright," I sighed and then nodded with more confidence. "Let's go."

It was a long drive to Macon, almost a full day cramped in a pickup truck. Kenny drove with Katjaa in the passenger seat and Duck in the smaller, middle seat. I sat behind Kenny, Lee behind Katjaa and Clem behind Duck. We didn't speak much, but what can you say after something like that?

I still couldn't believe that he was dead. Only a few hours ago were Shawn and I smiling and making small talking with each other. I remembered the warmth of his hand when ever mine brushed his as I handed him a rusty nail for the fence. Needless to say, I bet his hands weren't so warm anymore.

I worried about his father. I understood what he was going through, I really did. When most people say that, in reality they have no idea. How could they unless something like this happened? But I knew; my empathy for him was so real it scared me. But then again, a lot of things did these days. Like the fact that not even two minutes after we all hopped into Kenny's truck, Shawn most likely came back from the dead and made a meal out of his father who I know couldn't bear to shoot him. That's what scared me the most. The fact that even though the ones you loved were up and walking, they were long gone. It wasn't really them in that body, roaming the streets; it was a hungry monster who craved flesh.

Clementine kept looking at me and I'd give her a smile and she'd look away letting me pear back out of the window. Just as I was tempted to lay my head against the window and go to sleep, the truck sputtered to a stop in the middle of a deserted street in a city it pained me to recognize as downtown Macon. It took me days to get away from this place, yet only hours to be dragged back to it. I was back at the root of my worst nightmare.