The Daughter of William Carver

Act 1 Part 5: Goodbye.

Vanessa had hoped the raiders they crossed paths with would stay away, that they would've learned their lesson after Bill and his men had scared them off, but unfortunately, it only encouraged them, and little did they know, the raiders were preparing to attack them from the shadows as revenge.
Kara's birthday was tomorrow and Vanessa was just finishing up the last of the preparations, wrapping her gift in a bunch of old newspapers, wiping the sweat from her forehead as she finished.
"Finally," Vanessa breathed a sigh of relief, setting the present aside by hers and Bill's sleeping bag.
"Bill! I'm done wrapping her gift! I'm gonna go check on Troy to see if he's doing okay on watch!" She exclaimed as she walked past his office, knowing Kara would be too distracted with her stuffed bunny to listen in at this early hour.
"Alright, I'm done wrapping mine, I'll be there in a second," He replied, looking to her as she passed his office before sighing, knowing those raiders would come back sooner or later.
Vanessa went up to the roof, stretching with a yawn as she went over to Troy's side.
"Hey, I figured you might want a break. Want me to take over for a bit so you can chill for a while or are you still doing okay?" She questioned curiously, placing her hands to her hips.
"I'm doing fine, nothing has really happened today so everything is relatively fine," Troy replied as he looked over at her.
She nodded, smiling a bit as she replied, "that's g—"
She stopped when she heard a bullet fly by her head, causing her eyes to widen and quickly tackle Troy to the ground, narrowly avoiding another bullet.
"Holy hell!" She exclaimed before grabbing the walkie from Troy, using it to speak to her husband.
"Bill! Someone's shooting at Troy and I! I can't get a good look, but there's definitely more than one shooter!"
Troy began to give cover fire, managing to shoot a couple of them.
"Shit, hold on, get down to the floor now!" He exclaimed before switching to another channel on the walkie.
"I need every good shot we have up to the roof! We can't let them take this place!"

Vanessa tried to peek above cover to see how many there were, but she had to quickly duck again, covering her head.
"I can't see them at all! Every time I poke my head out, they're ready to fire at my head!"
Becca was hanging out with Kara when she suddenly noticed the color on Shel's face leaving her.
"Shel?" She questioned curiously.
"I-I just—...I need to check something, stay here and don't move," Shel replied before quickly running to try and get a better look of the situation outside without being spotted.
Kara looked up at Becca for confirmation of whatever her sister was worried about, but Becca simply shrugged, believing that the place was too secure for anyone to break in.
"SHEL! BECCA! I SUGGEST YOU GET OUT HERE! NOW!!" Roman yelled, nearly getting shot, so he shot back, nearly hitting Troy.
Shel's eyes widened in shock, quickly running back to Becca and Kara.
"W-We need to find a place to hide! Now!" She quickly exclaimed in a panic.
"What? Why?" Becca questioned in confusion as she stood up.
"My daddy will protect the place," Kara replied, causing Shel to quickly shake her head side to side.
"He's going to get in! He has a lot more people in his group than he used to and he's not going to let me or Becca get away!"
"Who's going to get in?" Becca questioned in concern, causing Shel's eyes to soften a bit.
"R-Roman, he's here and he's going to take down that door any second now, we have to hide, and if we don't hide now then we'll be taken back!" Shel exclaimed to her sister in a panic.
"But there's no way he c—!"
"I'm not arguing with you right now Becca! Now c'mon!" She cut her off, quickly grabbing both Kara and Becca as she tried to find a spot for them to hide.
Kara was confused as she hugged her stuffed bunny, that is, until she heard some of her fathers men trying to barricade the door.
"C'mon! I want this boarded up now!" Tavia barked orders at some of the new and old recruits.
"We're trying!" Bonnie exclaimed as she tried to keep the doors from opening.
Bill went to the roof, holding an assault rifle firmly in his hands.
"I suggest you back off and head back where you came from! Now!!" Bill yelled, looking down at the few raiders.
"So, you're that Carver I've been hearing about. Look, I'm just here to get my people and leave!" Roman yelled back at him.
"Not happening! You either leave now, or we will kill every last one of you!" Bill threatened, aiming at roman.
Vanessa grabbed her gun and quickly checked to make sure it was ready before getting ready to fire back, watching from a small spot where she noticed his men were attempting to break the doors down.
She glanced over at Roman, noticing his determined gaze as he stared back at Bill, causing her to realize neither one of them would be backing down.
Shel meanwhile found a connected cabinet space where she hid Becca and Kara, getting ready to close it.
"Aren't you staying with us??" Becca questioned in concern until Shel handed her a gun.
"I can't fit, I'm going to find somewhere nearby to hide, but whatever you two do, do not make a peep until I come back for you two. Okay?" She replied, giving them stern looks to which they both nodded.
"Good, now be safe," Shel spoke once more before closing the cabinets, quickly finding a spot nearby to hide.
This spot wasn't as hidden, but she refused to be far from her sister in case Roman did find her.
"Alright then. Men! Fire away and get in there!"
Bill began to fire at Roman and his men, doing his best to kill the whole group.
Suddenly Vanessa heard the doors crumbling from the pressure so she quickly joined in, shooting at the group until she was fresh out of bullets.
Becca heard the doors giving in and quickly covered her ears, Kara doing the same.
Bonnie gasped and tried to close the doors again with some of the others, but she was hit so hard she was instantly knocked out, blood coming out from her nose.
"Dammit! They're in Bill!" Tavia shouted into the walkie as she began to fire on the raiders.
"Shit! Troy! Make sure those bastards don't get up here, and keep a watch of her!" Bill ordered as Troy nodded, continuing to fire at the raiders until he went down to go help the others.
"I'll be there in a second!" He exclaimed as he ran towards the others.
"Where the hell is Shel and Becca? Oh shit, kara!" He exclaimed in worry, quickly scanning the area for any sign of his daughter.
Suddenly Kara screamed and cried, dropping her stuffed bunny as she was being carried away along with Becca.
"Becca! Kara!" Shel exclaimed and was about to shoot the man carrying them until suddenly she was knocked down, gasping in pain as one of the men began to take her as well.
"Dammit!" Tavia exclaimed as she tried to help, but ended up having to focus on pushing them out to prevent any casualties.
"They're taking them! We have to stop them!" Russell shouted as he shot at a few of the men.
"Can't do that if we're dead!" Tavia yelled back as she shot a few more men, beginning to force the raiders back out the door.
"We have to kill these fucks first!" Bill exclaimed, shooting most of them before he went go help Shel, killing the man dragging her.
"Come on Shel, can't have you die here."
Shel winced in pain as the man dropped her, shakily standing back up as she wiped some blood off her lip.
"W-We can't let them get away Bill, w-we have to take them out," She quickly spoke as she pulled out her gun and started shooting at the men.
"We ain't gonna let them get away, we are killing every last one of them," He reassured as he looked back at the men fleeing from his group.
Shel nodded firmly, taking aim and shooting again, her face having a mixture of fear and anger.
"I should've warned you about them, but I thought Becca and I were safe...I should've known no one's really safe until the thing we fear is dead."
As Vanessa was firing on the men from the roof she spotted Kara and Becca being dragged into a van, causing her eyes to widen.
"KARA!!!" She screamed and quickly made her way down from the roof, running towards the doors until Tavia grabbed her arm.
"Let go!"
"If you run out there they'll either take you too or kill you! Calm down and help us with this first!" Tavia exclaimed.
Vanessa gritted her teeth and shoved Tavia, about to run to the van until she saw it drive away, causing her to tremble.
"K-Kara..."
"I know hun, we're gonna get her back. Russel, Vince, Shel, let's go, we have to follow them," He spoke up as he looked over at his group.
She nodded, taking a deep breath before looking down at the ground.
"If only I hadn't been caught by that raider when we were scavenging, this never would've happened."
Shel gently placed her hand to her shoulder, giving her a soft look as she replied, "This wasn't your fault, it's mine. I should've known Roman would find Becca and I eventually, I'm sure they've been watching us for a while now, even longer than when you had been attacked. Let's just focus on getting them home safe and sound, alright?"
"Alright," Vanessa sighed before seeing Kara's stuffed bunny, picking it up and putting it in her backpack.
"Let's go."