Forest stumbled forward, a chorus of steps following his own when they stopped. "H...holly, is that you?" he asked, his mouth hanging open.

"Surprise, surprise!" she said, her eyes twinkling with glee. But then her jaw tightened.

The man beside her narrowed his eyes at the kids. Lowering his rifle, he shared a brief glance with Holly and whispered into her ear. Pulling back, he gave a shallow nod.

Forest shifted uneasily as he reached for his shoulder strap only to be reminded that he no longer had his backpack.

"What's wrong?" Holly asked, confronting the siblings. Her partner stayed behind, eyeing the neighboring trees.

Forest dropped his head and cleared the tears from his eyes.

"Hey, what's going on?" She stopped softly before them. "Where's your father?"

"He's just gone for now. Not like it's your business," Winter snapped.

Holly slowly folded her arms, taken aback by the tone. "Something's happened." Turning her attention to Forest, she leveled with him. "Why are you crying?"

It was as though he could feel her eyes on him. Taking a recovering breath, he lifted his head and met her gaze. He couldn't let himself appear weak; he had to be strong. "It's just us."

"What does that mean?"

There was a long pause. Shaking his head, he looked at his sisters and found both to be shivering. Were they nervous?

When there was no response, Holly nodded and stood to her feet. "I'm taking you home."

Forest raised his eyebrows. "You can't. Not yet." The woman gave a deep sigh, her reluctant eyes locking with his.

"Hey," Autumn spoke up, earning Holly's attention, "what are you two even doing out here?"

"Hunting. We were just about to head back, but not anymore." Turning to her companion, she gestured for him to come forward. "This is Fox, or that's what we call him, at least. He and I are taking you kids home. Now, where do you live?"

Forest, hesitant, glanced at his sisters and each returned the look with hard eyes. If Father was still here, he'd find a way to get his medicine, right? But he was gone. And so the boy nodded. "Fine, our bunker's over there."

When he pointed, Holly gave a forced smile. "Thank you."

The siblings followed after the woman in a heavy silence. The atmosphere being a cheerless one, the survivors' footsteps were all to be heard. Although the kids had yet to clear up what had happened to their father, Holly knew. Forest could just tell. Behind them was her companion, Fox, who was always looking out for walkers. Occasionally his rifle would go off and a body would drop.

But other than this, everyone was quiet.

As Forest walked, he could feel the tears come back and threaten to fall. His raw emotions could only be kept inside for so long. The first one slithering down his face, another soon followed. And then another. A broken sob escaped the boy, and he half-heartedly tried to hold it back. Should I even care if they see?

Without warning, an arm went over his shoulder. Looking at its owner, he saw Autumn and smiled faintly. And then, from the opposite direction, another arm went over him. It was Winter.

"It's gonna be okay, brother," Autumn said. Her words were gentle. "We'll get through this."

"Just one step at a time," Winter added.

While Forest sniffled and whipped at his eyes, his sisters cried softly. Even Winter.

This was going to be a hard day. And the boy doubted the next day would be any better. Or any days to follow. As long as his father wasn't there, Forest couldn't imagine feeling happiness ever again. Surely all that awaited him was a life of misery.

Only, he knew that he had come to accept his mother's death. Somehow, he'd accept his fathers' too. Whether it took months or years. But that's if he even lived that long. Living in a world where the dead walked, tomorrow was never promised.

"Kids," Holly said, shrugging off her backpack, "do you have any water? With those backpacks, I figured you did, but maybe I shouldn't have assumed. I'd be lying to say you three didn't look a little drained."

"My sister and I," Autumn said, "we have water. We can share it with our brother, so we're fine. Really."

Holly had already found a water bottle from within her bag. "Well, let's take a brief break, okay? Why don't you kids drink something."

Glancing at each other, the sisters nodded. While they searched throughout their bags, Forest watched Fox. The man had on a white t-shirt; a black jacket hanging loosely over it. His jeans blue, they were carrying stains of red and brown; as were all of his clothing. His black, thick hair having nearly reached his shoulders, it demonstrated a layer of grease.

"Hey," Forest said, looking at him, "what's your real name?"

He only stared.

"Fox, what's your real name?"

No answer.

Furrowing his brows, he stopped there.

"Here," Autumn said, offering him the bottle. Taking it gratefully, the liquid, although warm, felt great on his dry throat.

"Holly, Fox - I need to tell you something." Winter's tone was critical. "I don't hear them now, so they may not be terribly close, but trust me: in the opposite direction, there's a large mob of walkers."

"Yeah, over fifty of 'em," Autumn chimed in.

There was a pause. "Then we better get going, kids. Come on," Holly said, swinging her bag over her shoulders. "Let's get you home and fast."

"You do realize how far away we live, right?" Winter asked.

"A couple hours, right?"

At this, Winter let out a brief laugh. "Not even close. Over a day away."

"Oh." She turned to give Fox a hesitant look. "Well, you say there are walkers back there, a lot of them. If it's that bad and your place is so far, why don't you, kids, come with us? We have a place a couple of hours from here."

"That's sweet and all, but we're fine," Winter said. She hurried beside Holly and locked eyes with her. "It's time to part ways."

She shook her head, letting out a long sigh. "Something's happened. I'm sorry, but you, kids, aren't fooling anyone. Your father wouldn't let his children wander this far from home by themselves. And you keep crying. So please, just come with us. My group can help you three get back on your feet."

"My father... died because of that mob. Because of that sick, diseased mob, and he ain't ever gonna come back. Why is life so cruel?" Winter asked, bitter.

"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear, dear. I may not have known your father long, but he was a good man. I could tell. Life has a way of beating you down, Winter, but here's the thing: you need to get back up. If you don't, you're just as dead as the walkers."

"Yeah," Winter mumbled, looking down.

"This conversation is far from over, but unfortunately I need to cut it short. If walkers are over there, we best be far from them. Come on, let's pick up the pace," Holly said.

And so they did.

The previous light of the day was gradually being replaced by a sheet of darkness as the minutes came and went. A light breeze displaying over the scene, the wind did little to help their exhausted selves. Few words were spoken for the next hour, apart from the occasional murmur. At first, the survivors' steps were brisk with energy, but not anymore. Panting, they agreed it was time to take a break.

Forest found a tree to sit against as the others did likewise. He had started seeing black spots a few minutes ago, so when a break was mentioned, he was relieved. Another hour.

"Hey." Looking upward, he met the eyes of the tall figure before him.

"Hey, Fox." Why's he talking to me?

"I'm sorry for being a bit edgy with you guys. It's been a long day." The man crossed his arms. "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about your dad. I remember when I lost mine."

Forest frowned, lowering his gaze. "Yeah." Expecting him to dismiss himself, the boy was surprised when he instead found a spot next to him.

"I-it... all happened so fast." Forest could the tears welling up in his eyes. "At one moment, we were in a tree and safe, but in the next, he sacrificed himself. He told us goodbye and jumped."

"I know how hard that must be. You-"

"And I begged him not to, you know? I begged him to stay with us, Fox. Begged him. But he did it anyway. I wish I got to properly say goodbye; to say how sorry I was for my mistakes. I wish I got to do a lot of things. If I could go back and jump, I would. His life is worth much more than mine. Since I'm just a kid, I can only do so much..."

"Exactly. You're just a kid. That's why he did it. You have a whole future ahead of you."

"I just wish I could go back."

Fox watched the boy. "Yeah, don't we all." He paused. "I've made many mistakes of my own, you know. It's human nature."

"Like what?"

Shaking his head, the man closed his eyes, considering. "Well, out of all my faults, this is probably the one I regret the most. I had left my brother. During this apocalypse, I left him and the group. I just was tired of staying put; I wanted to travel."

Forest's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Yeah." Setting his jaw, he stood up. "Oh, and my real name's Jett, by the way."