Regression to the Mean 3: Apocalypse

What Lies Ahead

The street below is filled with the dead as I fly above the building of Atlanta, searching for something, someone. But all I see are the dead. Everyone is dead. So many innocent lives lost. Landing on top of a low building I look at the faces of the dead that stare back up at me, reaching towards me as if they can reach. Getting a closer look, the faces become more recognisable. Rick, Carl, Carol, Sophia, Merle, Daryl, Glenn, Scott, Stiles, Mom, Liam, Lydia, Allison, Mason, everybody I know, knew they all stare at me with dead eyes as they snap their jaws at me. My head becomes light and I begin to saw until I finally tumble of the edge of the building into their grabbing hands. At this point the dream usually ends but not this time. As I land into their open arms, their hands grab onto my flesh tearing the skin from my bones. Jaws lock on to my arms and legs gnawing my skin as they feed. My friends they are my ending. But as the light finally goes out and all of the pain subsides, it begins all over again. My eyes flash open and I am alone in the middle of Atlanta standing to my feet, I straighten up and look around me, my bloody, naked body freezes over.

I'm surrounded by the corpses of my friends, my family, my group, my pack. They're all watching me their dead eyes staring at me as I am a meal. Scott is the first on to step forward, the only way I recognise him is the tattoo, the two stripes wrapped around his bicep, my eyes never leave his as he stumbles forward, a hungry moan escapes his lips as he closes in, his once chocolate coloured that would flash that vibrant Alpha red, have been replaced with the cold hard white. And it begins all over again, the grabbing, the tearing, the feeding. Over and over and over, I never die.

"Thhhhhhum" I gasp out as I shoot up out of Liam's arms we left the C.D.C 2 days ago but we're still in Atlanta, restocking whatever we can find and searching for extra gas. Looking out of the window I notice the sun rising.

"Babe?" Liam whispers, pulling his hand along my stomach back to him.

"I'm okay, go back to sleep" I kiss his forehead and get up as he slumps back down, out like a light.

Silently chuckling I stretch my hands about my head and look around at everyone sleeping, all accept Rick who is now where in sight, training my hearing, I follow the sound of his voice up to the roof of the office building we are holding up in

"I guess I'm losing hope that you can hear me. But there's always that chance, isn't there? That slim chance. It's all about slim chances now. I tried to do everything right, keep people safe. I tried, Morgan. I tried. Our group's smaller now. We lost another, day before last. It was her choice. I won't say I blame her, she lost faith." I listen until I silently push open the roof door and watch as he stays crouched down talking into his walkie talkie "I can't, I won't. I met someone, a young girl who can do extraordinary things. She and her friends, they know stuff... they're stronger than us all...they can help" Rick continues as I silently move barefoot towards him until I am right next to him.

I smile shyly at him as he gets up and continues talking to 'Morgan' "The CDC was a dead end. We met a man there, a scientist. He told us something. He told us... It doesn't matter." Rick hesitates, not wanting to speak of it, and neither do I, Liam and I haven't even spoken about it, not to anyone, not even Allison. "What matters is we're moving on. Atlanta's done. We're gonna try for Fort Benning. We're facing a long hard journey, maybe even harder than I can imagine. But it can't be harder than our journey's been so far. Can it? 125 miles... That's what lies ahead. And I'm trying hard not to lose faith. I can't. If I do, the others... my family, my wife... my son. There's just a few of us now. So we've got to stick together, fight for each other, be willing to lay down our lives for each other if it comes to that... It's the only chance we've got. Be careful out there, Morgan. I hope you and Duane are okay. Stay off the road. Keep moving. Keep your eyes open. I don't know, just... just be safe. Maybe we'll see you in Fort Benning someday... Rick, signing off." He finally finishes and we just stare out at the rising sun beyond Atlanta.