Chapter Text
“Is it a walker?”
“Can’t tell,” Phoebe grunted as she peered through the binoculars. “There’s definitely someone moving.”
Owen blocked the sun from his eyes as he watched the youngest Janeway on top of the RV. He gazed out at the field, green as it could be with the warm sun shining down on them. The large ranch style house lay behind him, and in front, the glorious view. Like a piece of heaven in the middle of Indiana.
All for nothing.
“It’s a walker!” Phoebe jumped and the RV creaked under her. She hopped down the ladder and landed square on her feet. “This one’s mine!”
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Phoebe grunted and then spun around to find her older sister standing by with her hands on her hips and an incredulous expression.
“I can do it,” Phoebe nearly whined.
The redhead pulled her rifle out, keeping its nose to the ground like her father had taught her. “You stay here. Owen, keep an eye on her, will ya?”
He nodded, not exactly excited to be placed between the two Janeway sisters, but they were like his own daughters in many ways. He’d seen them grow up. He and Gretchen and Julia and Edward. They’d raised their kids together more than apart. Vacations, holidays, backpacking trips and fishing.
It all seemed so long ago.
Katie touched his shoulder gently, “Doing all right, Owen?”
He nodded, wiping away an errant tear.
“We all miss Julia.”
Phoebe finally got the hint and wrapped her arm around him. “We’re all family here.”
The older man nodded. “You better go take care of that walker before it gets caught in the fence. Tank’ll throw a fit.”
Katie barked a laugh. She nodded once, releasing the man who was like her second father. She turned to her pesky sister. “Where’d you see it?”
Phoebe dashed up the ladder of the RV as Kathryn came around to look out at the vast pasture, the large green meadow beyond it, their land the break of the trees all around.
“There!” Phoebe pointed while she looked through her binoculars.
Kathryn tried following along, and squinted. “Too far.” She set the rifle aside on a hardwood table they’d set up by the old Winnabego with the big yellow ‘W.’ “I’ll take the sniper.”
She headed forward another fifteen feet and settled behind the ready-standing sniper rifle they’d fixed to the location. It was the central most spot and gave them the greatest distance and clarity for whatever came up over the hill--whether it was walkers or marauders.
Settling behind the sights, she focused in and then called back to her sister on the RV. “Location?”
“Straight ahead,” Phoebe called back.
“Be more specific!”
“Right! Um, okay.” She peered through the binoculars once more and scanned the area. “Okay! That tree where Taylor Flynn tried kissin’ you and you clocked him out cold.”
Kathryn grumbled under her breath. Not helpful, Phoebe.
The message must have made it to Phoebe as she continued, “Two trees over from there, to the left! In the shade! It’s by the trunk.”
Kathryn moved the rifle carefully until she came upon the figure. It was difficult to tell with the glare of the sun and the darkness of the shade under the tree. The figure appeared to be aimlessly staggering around the trunk. It tripped on one of the tree's notorious roots, something she’d done numerous times when they were kids. Kathryn moved the sights along with the figure as it stumbled forward, it’s arms swinging haphazardly as it lurched forward, step by step.
A second figure behind that one moved into view and as it stood still, dazedly lolling its head, she shot off the rifle. It’s head burst at the impact and it collapsed silently. Kathryn closed her eyes momentarily. Please don’t let it be someone I knew. She wasn’t sure why it mattered any more. You were either alive, dead or undead. It didn’t matter who you were if you undead. What mattered was removing the threat to keep her people safe. Her family. The group that had somehow assembled in the early days of chaos, when the virus had swept across the world in a matter of days. It was a snap. One day everything had been as it had always been. The next, it was this. Shooting undead with a rifle from her parents’ ranch house.
Kathryn shook it off as she lined up her sight again. The figure seemed to be moving a little faster now, gaining speed as it sort of half-galloped down the meadow, staggering and nearly tumbling.
She cleared her throat, aimed, let out a breath and gently squeezed the trigger.
“WAIT!”
The echoing boom of the rifle ricocheted around the valley and she spun around to look up at Phoebe on the RV. She was flying down the stairs, grabbing the rifle Kathryn left and came barreling. “It’s not a walker!” she screamed as she ran.
Kathryn took a few steps backward, nodding at Owen for him to put everyone on alert. She whipped out her pistol as she turned and sprinted across the first half of the pasture.
The feel of the tall grass whipping by her was exhilarating as much as it was terrifying. One thing the new world had made sure of was getting her into shape. She ran with speed and precision as she caught up with Phoebe who was beginning to slow. The younger Janeway hadn’t yet experienced enough close calls to adapt to them properly. She still wasn’t ready for away missions.
Huffing out of breath, they made their way across the second half of the pasture, out into the meadow, and to the body. Phoebe was sliding onto her knees to help the poor person when Kathryn knocked her aside with her full weight. The person in the grass hissed as it turned around. It’s eyes clouded with death. It’s skin and bones broken and revolting. Kathryn pulled out a long knife from her other hip and plunged it into the skull.
Beside her, Phoebe breathed hard and stared wide-eyed. The anger in her sister's face was obvious, but Kathryn still spoke through her teeth, as if Phoebe didn’t know how she’d messed up, how close she’d come to being bitten.
“Don’t you ever do that again! That’s not the person I shot. Be careful.” She nearly spat as she pulled Phoebe up off the ground. They searched in the high grass, Phoebe staying behind Kathryn.
“Goddammit,” Kathryn muttered.
Red blood was sprayed across a patch of grass and she found the person she had shot--a person , not a walker. Not only were the figures’ clothes relatively put together, they didn’t smell of death, and had no apparent wounds, except for the trail of blood slipping into the rich dirt beneath them.
“Hey,” Kathryn put a hand to the person, turning them onto their back. She gasped quietly, surprised to find it was a woman. A blonde woman. With strange metallic implants in her face and on one of her hands.
“What the--” Phoebe started but Kathryn held up a fist for her to keep quiet.
“Hey,” she whispered to the blonde woman, well-aware that they were far from the protective fence and on their own out in the meadow. Surely Owen had let Tank and Chuck know they were out here, if the two had returned from their run yet.
“Kathryn!” Phoebe knocked her roughly.
“What?” Kathryn called back annoyed.
“There’s---we have to go.”
Kathryn rose onto her feet and looked up over the grass. At the precipice of the hill, a group of at least eight walkers had bunched together and herded, probably riled up by the sound of the rifle. When was Chuck going to make that silencer he swore he knew how to make?
“Goddammit.” She squatted on the ground once more. She directed Phoebe to do the same and then turned back to the blonde. “Hey! If you’re alive, I need to know right now.” She shook the blonde woman but she didn’t stir. Kathryn put her fingers to her neck.
“Is she alive?”
“I can’t tell,” Kathryn said through her teeth. “Hey!” She shoved the woman harder but she just bounced back and remained out cold.
“Hurry!” Phoebe chanted, “hurry, hurry, hurry,” as she peered over the grass at the small herd.
“Sorry to do this,” Kathryn said as she pushed two fingers into the wound on the woman’s shoulder. Her eyes shot open and Kathryn quickly placed her hand over the woman’s mouth. Ice-blue irises finally settled and peered into her own. Kathryn gestured for her to be quiet.
“Phoebs!”
“Thirty seconds!” Phoebe called back, knowing exactly what her sister was asking. “Hurry up!”
“We gotta go,” Kathryn leaned toward the blonde woman. “You gotta get up. We have to move quickly.”
The woman frowned deeply as Kathryn pulled her up, surprised at how heavy the woman was, considering her rather thin frame. She moaned once and Phoebe grew wide-eyed, her hand tight around the rifle.
“She’s just in pain! Come on, help me.”
Phoebe glanced back at the walkers who were just starting to notice there was fresh meat. She slid her arm around the back of the tall woman and the three started to move.
Keeping her eye on what was behind them, Kathryn tried to pull the blonde as quickly as possible without any of them losing their balance. The blonde’s head lolled back and forth, going in and out of consciousness. Finally, she rested her head on Kathryn’s shoulder and looked up at her.
“Janeway,” she mumbled in a faint whisper.
Phoebe and Kathryn immediately made eye contact. Phoebe spoke the question Kathryn was too afraid to utter.
“Do you think she knows Daddy?”