The Dead World/Issue 97

On Christmas day, snow was falling lightly, birds were making noises, people were just starting to wake up and Will couldn't help but smirk as he watched all this action going on around camp as he took a drag of his cigarette, just like the perfect little Christmas he thought to himself.

Finishing off his smoking, he put it out before pulling his jacket further around him and looking up to the sky watching the snow fall, smiling to himself as he zipped up his jacket and put his hands in his pockets.

Despite him finding it humorous how the camp was about to have their first ever perfect little Christmas since the apocalypse started he couldn't help but smile at the fact. He didn't want to jinx it but things were looking good for them.

"morning my secret Santa" Bella said suddenly appearing behind him before she wrapped her arms around one of his and looked up to him giving him a wink causing him to chuckle as he leaned down to press his lips to hers. Last night just as midnight passed they had decided to start a relationship and what a nice Christmas present it turned out to be.

"morning beautiful" he whispered in her ear making her shiver slightly, not due to the cold, as she laid her head on his chest smiling to herself as he rocked the two of them gently like they were dancing.

"looks like Maria's going to get her wish, Emily told me yesterday how the little girl wanted Christmas to happen" Bella stated and Will nodded smiling himself at the fact that the kids would get a Christmas despite the current situation the camp was in.

"you going hunting today?" Bella asked innocently biting her lip as she looked into his eyes awaiting her answer while he just thought about it before chuckling and looking down at her, a little confused of her expression.

"awww" she exclaimed making a pouty expression causing him to raise an eyebrow which made her giggle before leaning up to his ear playfully moving so her body was against his while she whispered.

"I was hoping we could have a little "action" in the woods again" she purred which caused him to chuckle as he kissed down on her neck, right where he had left his mark last night which made her giggle as she moved back down to a standing position.

"our tent not good enough for you?" Will asked making them both laugh as they began walking back to the camp where everyone was already greeting each other and getting things ready for Christmas.

"I only settle for the best" she told him giving him another wink which caused them to laugh even more as they joined the rest of the camp residents for the morning. They were right, this was the perfect little Christmas.

Groaning as he rolled over in his sleeping bag, Anthony tried desperately to go to sleep again but he knew he should wake up soon. This Christmas he wasn't alone, he had a family to spend it with.

"come on lazy, its Christmas" he heard Karen say and he opened his eyes to see her enter the tent with a huge smile on her face before she sat herself down on his lap and laid her head which made him smile himself as he cuddled her close.

"that's why I'm staying asleep" he said jokingly which made her laugh a little before she looked up to him, eyes sparkling as she stuck out her tongue at him which he done back to her. The two of them loved moments like this.

"alright, i'll get up" Anthony said starting to move up being careful not to knock her off as he held her tight but she soon pushed him back down onto the sleeping back making him raise an eyebrow at her.

"just lay down, want to stay like this" Karen mumbled as she hid her face in his jacket which he had been wearing due to all the coldness in camp making him chuckle as he held her tight against him.

"cant you just make up your mind" Anthony joked which made her laugh as she looked up to him pouting before she lightly punched his arm and started to get up nodding with a small sigh as she ran her hands through her hair.

"your right we should get up" Karen stated sticking out her tongue at him causing him to groan and lay back down on the sleeping back much to her amusement but quickly it disappeared as she thought of a certain someone as she done every morning, but this time it was different.

"hey Anthony" she whispered seriously, kicking his leg a little to get his attention causing him to look at her confused when he saw her serious expression but she just bit her lip thinking for a moment before she continued.

"well you know when I thought Will had died yesterday,I couldn't help but think about Logan and how I don't know if he's alive or not so....I-I" she started but she couldn't finish, she just trailed off and went silent, beginning to fiddle with the bottom of her shirt which was what made Anthony aware that something was wrong.

"hey whats up?" Anthony asked worried as he moved over to her and pulled her into an embrace which she accepted but didn't give away any tears or anything and just stayed their in silence for a few minutes until finally she spoke up again.

"promise me you went ever leave me?" she asked turning her head to look him in the eyes which he couldn't stay looking at for long. They were so full of hope and begging he just couldn't look at them, he wished he could promise her that he'd always be there but he knew his time would come to an end at some point....

"I cant, you know I cant" Anthony told her and she sighed nodding as she wiped a couple of tears away and buried her head back in his jacket. She knew he couldn't, she knew they both could die at any time, she knew that happiness didn't last long in this new world.

"I know damn it, just promise me to last as long as you can, ok?" Karen asked trying to give him a small smile which she couldn't manage so they just shared a quick kiss before they parted and began getting ready to join everyone else.

"i'll try" he responded giving her another kiss as well as playful slap on the ass before exiting the tent leaving her to follow him, quickly masking her past feelings behind a smile as they joined everyone else. Now wasn't the time to be upset....it was Christmas.

Leaning against a tree while sitting down on the cold snowy floor of the woods. Riley sighed as he held out his only picture of his daughter in his hands but his face gave away no expression, it was just a blank expressionless face.

"come on cheer up, its Christmas" he heard Frank speak up jokingly as he moved through the woods to join Riley who quickly put away the photo into one of his pockets as Frank appeared from around the tree throwing a baseball bat to the floor next to Riley who raised an eyebrow.

"also found this while I was hunting, I believe its yours" Frank stated and grabbing it, Riley looked it over before he finally looked at the side of it and indeed see the name Alexis Vega on its side which confirmed it was indeed his previously lost weapon.

After he had acquired it once he took control of his old group, Riley had inscribed the name of his daughter on to it to remind him of her every day. He wouldn't forget her obviously but if he didn't remind himself of her every day he was sure he would go completely insane.

"so who's Alexis?" Frank asked smirking as he leaned against the tree but Riley just put the baseball down and glared up at him.

"fuck off" Riley stated coldly before getting up and beginning to walk away but Frank didn't stop his taunting and instead followed Riley through the woods smiling coldly as he said each word.

"what is she, an ex, deceased girlfriend....daughter?" Frank asked and that was it. All Riley saw was red when he suddenly turned around and swung his baseball bat, stopping his swing when the bat was barely touching Frank's neck while the man himself went wide eyed due to being shocked as well as going completely still, knowing he had crossed the line when Riley said his next words.

"you make one more fucking comment like you just done or you even look at this baseball, I'm going to kill you and bury you so far in the fucking ground that when you reanimate you'll be just trying to claw your way out of a coffin made of dirt for the rest of your undead fucking life, you understand me?"

Nodding as he looked at Riley a little fearful for once, Frank let out a breath that he didn't know he had been holding when Riley moved his bat away and spat down on the ground in front of Frank before walking off leaving Frank to watch him go with a cold expression.

"WHAT THE FUCK YOU LOOKING AT?" Riley yelled at one of the members of their group who was just standing there but quickly ran off in fear just in case Riley decided to kill him. Yeh Frank defiantly knew now....Riley was not to be messed with.

Waking up beside Lori in there bed, David chuckled to himself as he heard her groaning due to the baby now crying, obviously hungry since it was now morning and since she was the only one that could breast feed the baby she had to be the one who woke up.

"merry Christmas" he said to her jokingly but the only response he got from her was her shoving him away lightly as she got up causing him to chuckle again and lay back as he watched her get up, looking a little drunk and wobbling as she had just woken up.

"morning" she mumbled turning to give him a small smile before she had to catch herself as she walked into one of their chairs making him chuckle even more before he got out of bed and walked over to her, helping guide her to their baby but in truth he just wanted to be close to her which she knew.

The other day they had managed to get over all their problems and decided that they only lived once so they better make the most of all of it and despite their still being disagreements over things the two had managed to live with each other happily since then and they were better.

"so, what you planning to do for Christmas?" David asked laying his head on her shoulder as he watched her pick up their baby son and lay him her arms so he could feed on her breasts which made her smile every time he done it. She really did love her son.

"lay in bed all day?" she suggested looking up to him with "sparkling eyes" which showed she was happy causing him to smile big as they shared a quick kiss on the lips while David looked at her winking playfully.

"I can arrange that" he told her making her laugh as they shared another kiss, deeper this time before they settled down and watched their son feeding. Things were defiantly better now.

Smiling as she watched Maria drawing while sipping some of her tea, Emily couldn't help but think how lucky she was to have Maria in her life. They hadn't know each other a life time but that's what it felt like.

Laughing lightly to herself, Emily put her mug down once she had all of her tea and walked over to their calendar and marked that it was now Christmas by putting a pin on it. Whoever had owned this RV (old man Jethro D:) before liked to keep track of the dates so Emily and Maria had decided to continue that legacy by doing it.

"so what did you want to do for Christmas Maria?" Emily asked the little girl walking over to join her at the table with a smile on her face as she saw Maria was drawing a rose which was really well done, she had been getting lessons from Jamie which made Emily happier knowing the little girl had a friend with someone more her age.

"not much, just spend time with everyone and have fun" Maria responded looking up to Emily with a huge smile on her face which caused Emily to smile even more. Never mind who they were, everyone in camp couldn't help but smile a lot when around Maria.

"sure, just let me know when you want to head out" Emily told her and she nodded before going back to her drawing and Emily decided to leave her to do it but just as she was about to get up she thought about something and her smile went down a little as she turned back to look at Maria.

"hey, I just wanted to say I'm sorry that I couldn't get you a present or anything" Emily whispered a little sadly but much to her surprise Maria just turned around and gave her a tight hug giggling slightly.

"don't worry, your the best Christmas present I could've ever asked for" Maria said happily and Emily smiled a little sadly as she hugged the little girl tight, a tear rolling down her cheek at what Maria had just said. She was defiantly lucky that they had found each other.

Sitting in her med tent watching Jamie as he showed her his drawings she smiled at all of them. It was a shame that the apocalypse happened, she thought he would've made a good artist despite him constantly saying he wouldn't.

"I'm telling you, you would've got a lot of money for those pictures" Annie stated again after he had shown her his last drawing but this time he didn't argue and instead shrugged as he put his book back in his bag.

"m-maybe

, I-I wouldn't h-have sold them-m though" he stated leaning his head on his hands while he looked forwards in thought while she just raised an eyebrow and moved a little closer to him before he bumped his side a little.

"why?" she asked, sure she knew that he drew not for money but because it was his favourite hobby but why not actually get paid while enjoying your money was why she was confused but he soon just shrugged again making her little worried she had overstepped the line.

"I-it was just something I-I only showed m-my sister b-before she died, didn't w-want anyone else t-to know about m-my drawing" Jamie admitted quietly turning to look down at the floor trying not to cry as he thought about his sister. It was the first Christmas he was having without her.

Hearing this Annie quickly drew him into a hug which he accepted but remained quiet as she said soothing things to him, sometimes wiping a couple of tears off his face as she told him it would be ok and all that but Jamie was smart, he knew it wouldn't be ok.

"I-I just w-wish I-I had died i-instead of her, i-it was m-my fault that she h-had died, I-I should've done m-more to help her....she should b-be here now and not m-me" Jamie stated as he suddenly let all of his emotions fly out but Annie didn't mind, this was why she was here, to help people.

"I know you do, I know if Ricky died I'd wish the same thing but you know deep down you've got friends here....like me, I'm really happy I've met you" Annie stated comfortingly and he nodded wiping his last tears away as he looked up at her.

"I-I'm glad I-I m-met you to" Jamie responded making her smile as she gave him a light bump on the shoulder glad that he was getting back to his happy mood again before she leaned in to whisper to his ear.

"I know, you do have a crush on me after all" she whispered jokingly making him groan in embarrassment, blushing as she laughed at him. She couldn't help but use the fact she found out about his crush on her to her amusement.

Actually smiling as she walked through camp, Angelica gave greetings here and there happy that the camp residents themselves were happy and it was Christmas, what a perfect little Christmas so far she thought to herself.

Suddenly she nearly bumped into Ricky who had came around the corner and quickly apologized at the fact he had nearly knocked her over but she just brushed It off knowing it was always busy in camp so It could happen, she was also in a happy mood so she decided to let it slide.

However just as he began walking off again which she noted was towards the med tent she had grabbed his arm to stop him and he quickly took that as a meaning that she wanted to talk so he again stood in front of her and waited for her to say whatever it was.

"I wanted to ask how Annie's doing, what happened to her couldn't have happened without leaving a mark" Angelica stated and Ricky nodded drawing his jacket further around him before looking around to make sure no one was listening.

"she's having a little problem of being alone at the moment, Jamie's currently with her just to chat but she cant handle being alone because she gets a feeling of the same thing happening again, you know?" Ricky told her and Annie nodded sighing a little as she ran her hand through her hair thinking about it.

"it shouldn't have happened to HER, she's the nicest woman in this camp....she didn't deserve anything like that" Angelica said after a few moments of silence and Ricky couldn't help but agree with her.

"yeh, you doing ok?" Ricky asked deciding to change the topic but Angelica just silently nodded as she looked over the camp residents again before sighing and bowing her head but Ricky didn't need to ask why.

They both hadn't got much sleep lately and they both also had been doing a lot of word to keep their camp running. Due to winter as well as Frank's group they hadn't been doing well in the supplies department, they were starting to get worried about the camp's situation.

"I'm ok, I just wish every day could be like this....could be happy" Angelica admitted quietly ashamed at herself for letting her feelings aside but she gave away nothing else as Riley watched her before he gave her his response.

"you never know, maybe we'll get all this every day, one day" Ricky said trying to be supportive but Angelica just shook her head and shoved her hands in her pockets while scoffing at his statement and looking to him, saying one final thing before she walked off.

"all this, all this happiness....it isn't going to last, it never does"