30 Chapter 30

Amy intercepted me, as I was going to my tent: "Hey Xen, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure." I smiled at her. She dragged me for a while outside the camp, though I didn't really protest. When we stopped, I asked her: "What's up?"

"No, what's up with you?" She looked at me angrily. "Why the hell do you want to do something so reckless!"

"Trust me, Amy, it's not reckless." I shook my head. "I've been thinking of doing this for a while now, and I can take care of myself out there."

"No… You're going to Atlanta this time! It's not the same as before!" she said passionately. "The place is swarmed with walkers, one wrong move, and you'll have an army at your back! The others might be alright with this, but that's because they don't care! Did you see them, nobody tried to stop you! Only Dale did! That says a lot about them, sending a sixteen years old boy instead of doing it themselves!"

"Calm down, Amy. You're forgetting I'm the one who came up with the idea. And I did insist on going alone." I reasoned with her. I didn't want her to start hating the whole group because of what I brought on myself.

"I'll come with you." Amy said with resolve I didn't expect from her. I looked at her, wondering how to turn her down without hurting her feelings. "Please?" as if reading my mind, she added. "I… I just…" she said with a soft quavering voice, her eyes were teary at this point. "I just don't want to lose my only friend…" She started sobbing, using both hands, to cover her face. I felt a pang of guilt at her words, even though I knew I wasn't in the wrong, really. But she had seen what it's like out there, and understands the dangers herself. I'd be lying to her if I said I wouldn't be in danger, but I can't change my decision. I didn't know how to comfort her, memories of my previous life proved completely useless in this situation. I just hugged her as she sobbed, until she calmed down a bit.

"I'm sorry, Amy, but I have to do this. And I can't take you with me, your sister would kill me if I did anyway. But I promise you, I have no intention of dying out there." I looked into her reddened eyes. "Besides, we don't have any books left to read, I'll make sure to grab any that I find." I smiled to lighten the mood, and she chuckled, albeit forcefully, at my terrible joke.

We spent some time talking afterwards to take her mind off things, and make sure Andrea doesn't get the wrong idea by seeing the state Amy was in.

"Sorry about earlier." She suddenly said, though she looked a bit uncertain. "For getting all emotional on you, I mean."

"You have nothing to apologize for." I shook my head. "If anything, I'm glad you did. At least, now I know somebody will miss me when I'll be out there." She blushed in embarrassment, before averting her gaze, not daring to look me in the eyes. I extended my arm, and patted her on the head, drawing weird looks from her.

"What are you doing?" She looked at me questioningly.

"Head pats." I nodded sagely. "I read somewhere that when someone you care about is feeling down, the best way to deal with it is by patting them in the head. I like your hair, by the way, it's so soft! What kind of shampoo do you use?" she pushed my hand away, 'glaring' at me, though I could see she wasn't serious. "Aha, see! It works!" I grinned cheekily. She shook her head in amusement.