In The Walking Dead as Itachi Uchiha ?! (TWD)

Chapter 14: Chapter 14: Buried in Wreckage



<3rd Person Pov>

Itachi sat up the moment his eyes opened.

His hand brushed the handle of his kunai out of instinct.

Amy pulled her hand away from his shoulder as he moved.

Across from them, Jenner was asleep against the wall, arms folded, mouth slightly open.

Up front, Glenn sat in the passenger seat with a map unfolded in his lap. Andrea leaned in close beside him, quietly pointing something out, while Dale was at the wheel.

Itachi turned towards Amy.

"How long was I asleep?" he asked.

She looked at the clock above the dashboard.

"Little over four hours."

Itachi nodded.

"Where are we going right now?"

Andrea turned her head from the front.

"Shane and Rick figured we'd try heading towards Fort Bennet."

In front of Itachi, Jenner shifted, slowly waking up.

He blinked a few times, eyes adjusting to the light.

Itachi glanced over at him.

"Did you bring everything you'd need?"

Jenner nodded slowly.

"Yeah, tools, field kits, paper records, anything that might help study the walkers. And I also got what you asked for," he said, standing up and walking to his bag at the back of the RV.

"Here. We only had thirty-two steel pins left, about six inches each," he said, handing Itachi a box with them inside.

Itachi took one out and studied it between his fingers.

"This is perfect. Thank you," he said with a nod.

The highway ahead was a mess, with abandoned cars scattered across all lanes. Some were smashed, others burned out, and most left exactly where people had died trying to escape.

Dale let out a quiet breath as he eased off the gas.

"Oh jeez. Aw no…"

See a way through?" he called to Daryl, who had pulled up alongside the RV on his motorcycle.

Daryl gave a quick nod and motioned ahead.

Daryl took the lead, riding ahead while the rest of the group followed slowly behind, maneuvering through the wreckage one gap at a time.

Glenn leaned forward in the front seat, eyes scanning the wreckage.

"Uh, maybe we should just go back. There's an interstate bypass—"

"We can't spare the fuel," Dale cut in, not looking at him.

Glenn looked around and muttered,

"Jeez…"

The place looked like a graveyard. Open car doors, dried blood on windows, stripped luggage.

Then, up ahead, rows of abandoned cars stretched across the highway, crammed together at odd angles, blocking every lane.

Glenn leaned forward again.

"Can we get through here?"

Before anyone could answer, smoke burst from the front of the RV, and it came to a sudden stop.

Everyone started climbing out of their cars and gathering around the RV.

"I said it. Didn't I say it? A thousand times dead in the water."

Shane stepped up beside him.

"Problem, Dale?"

Jim opened the hood and leaned over it.

"The hose is busted again."

"Oh, just a small matter of being stuck in the middle of nowhere," Dale said dryly, "with no hope of—" He stopped himself with a sigh. "Okay. That was dumb."

Daryl walked past the group and headed straight for one of the abandoned cars.

He popped the trunk, rummaged around, and pulled out a small pink backpack covered in glitter and cartoon princesses. He tossed it casually in Itachi's direction.

"Here ya go. Thought it matched your vibe."

Itachi caught it and flipped him off.

Daryl grinned and kept looking for anything useful.

Shane looked around and shook his head.

"Can't find a radiator hose here."

"There's a whole bunch of stuff we can find," Daryl said, still digging through the same car.

"We can siphon more fuel from these," T-Dog added.

"Maybe some water," Carol said, already eyeing nearby bags.

"Or food," Glenn said.

Lori crossed her arms, her voice quiet but uneasy.

"This is a graveyard."

Everyone turned towards her.

"I don't know how I feel about this."

Amy spoke up from near the RV door.

"Well, it's a good thing no one asked."

Lori's head snapped around.

"Excuse me?"

Rick stepped in before it went any further.

"We're not doing this now, just look around and gather what you can. Just make sure you stay close to the RV, and don't go off alone."

The group started splitting up, scattering between the cars.

Back at the RV.

Jim was crouched over the open hood, hands on the frame.

"Yeah, the old one's toast. Split clean down the middle. Surprised it held as long as it did."

Dale was beside him, wiping his hands with a rag.

"Let's hope we can find one here. I don't want to be spending the night in this place."

Carol held up a red dress she'd pulled from the backseat of a car. She stood still for a moment, holding it against her chest with a soft smile.

Lori glanced at her as she passed.

Carol lowered the dress and folded it into a bag."Ed never let me wear nice things like this."

Lori stepped behind her and brushed her shoulder gently, then turned her eyes to Carl.

"Hey Carl? Always within my sight, okay?"

Carl nodded without looking up.

Carol turned to Sophia.

"You too, Sophia."

Sophia nodded back as well.

Glenn was crouched next to a pickup, trying to loosen the clamps on a radiator hose.

"Come on..."

Shane stood nearby, reading faded blue letters on the side of a delivery truck. 

He yanked open the side panel, revealing plastic jugs stacked inside.

"Glenn. Were we short on water?"

He cracked one open, tipping it over his head.

Glenn looked over his shoulder.

"Hey, save me some!" he said, laughing.

Shane grinned.

"It's like being baptized, man."

Daryl opened the back door of a sedan and suddenly froze.

In the back seat was a bloodied baby seat, and a tiny shoe lay next to it, stained dark red.

Itachi stepped up behind him but didn't say a word.

Daryl stared for a moment, jaw tight, then closed the door without a sound.

"Shit," he muttered, turning away.

Itachi didn't move for a few seconds.

Dale was on top of the RV, keeping lookout with his binoculars. Below, Rick stood with a hunting rifle.

Then he saw them.

A herd—dozens, emerging slowly from the far end of the highway, dragging their feet through the scattered cars and wreckage.

Rick spotted the herd and immediately ran towards Lori's side.

As he passed the RV, he caught sight of Amy near the door.

He whispered quickly.

"Get inside, and close the doors!"

Amy's eyes widened. She nodded and slipped inside, yanking the door shut behind her.

"Get down," she hissed to Andrea and Jacqui.

Both of them dropped to the floor without hesitation.

Rick kept moving, spotting Lori and Carl up ahead.

"Under the cars. Get down, now!" he whispered urgently.

Lori and Carol ducked under one chassis. Carl and Sophia scrambled under another, hands over mouths, trying not to breathe too loud.

Rick dove beneath the nearest car.

Further down the line, Shane spotted the movement too. He grabbed Glenn and yanked him down behind a delivery truck.

Itachi caught the motion from across the row.

He turned to Daryl.

"Walkers."

Daryl gave a quick nod and crouched low behind a doorframe.

Itachi sprinted across the cracked pavement towards T-Dog.

"Get under. Now," he said, quietly but firmly.

T-Dog dropped without hesitation, crawling under the nearest wreck.

Itachi slid beneath a crumpled sedan, back flat to the asphalt. From where he lay, he had a clear line of sight to Sophia and Carl, several cars away.

The silence was suffocating.

Dozens of walkers shuffled past, their limbs dragging, shoulders swaying. 

From beneath the crumpled sedan, Itachi watched the herd move through the wreckage like a slow, rotting tide. 

He could still see Sophia and Carl across from him. Sophia's eyes were wide, her hands clenched tight over her mouth. Carl was shaking but didn't move.

A few cars away, Rick was gesturing for the kids to stay quiet. Lori held her breath beside him, one hand pressed over Carol's.

The herd continued forward.

One by one, the walkers passed slowly.

Sophia shifted.

She was trying to crawl out from under the car slowly.

Itachi's eyes narrowed.

Too soon.

She slipped free of the chassis, starting to stand—

And that's when she saw it.

One walker.

Lagging behind the herd, just a few feet away. Its head snapped in her direction.

Sophia froze for half a second.

Then she screamed and bolted straight for the woods.

Itachi didn't hesitate.

He slid out from under the car in one motion, boots hitting the pavement.

He was running before she even cleared the first bush.

Rick scrambled out from under the wreckage and broke into a sprint, rifle gripped tight as he chased after her.

I closed the distance fast, eyes locked on her small frame as she tore through the trees, branches scratching at her arms.

She stumbled over a root and nearly went down. I reached out, catching her by the shoulders before she could hit the ground.

"Hey, hey, it's me," I said quickly, trying to steady her.

She gasped and screamed, pushing against my chest in blind panic. Her eyes were wide with fear.

"It's okay. Sophia, it's me," I said again, softer this time.

She froze.

Her breath hitched as she recognized me, and then she wrapped her arms around me so tightly it nearly knocked the air out of my lungs.

"You found me," she whispered through her tears.

I didn't say anything. I just held her. 

"Don't leave," she mumbled. "Please don't leave me."

"I won't," I said. "You're okay now."

I scooped her up without letting go, and she clung to me, arms locked around my neck.

Rick came crashing through the trees behind us, breathing hard.

"Thank God—" he stopped when he saw us. "You found her."

Two walkers appeared from the treeline, stumbling toward us through the leaves.

Rick looked back at us.

"You take her back, I'll distract them—"

I shook my head once.

"There's no need."

Still holding Sophia with one arm, I reached with my free hand and slipped two steel senbon from the pouch at my side.

In a single motion, I flicked both forward.

They flew straight into the heads of both walkers, dropping them instantly.

Rick stared at them, then back at me.

"Jesus. I always forget you can do that, just… with needles."

Sophia turned her face into my shoulder again, still holding on. I felt her fingers trembling less now.

"Let's go," I said quietly. "We should get back."

Rick nodded."Yeah. Just get her back to the highway," he said, nodding toward the senbon in the walkers' heads. "I'll grab those for you."

I stepped out of the treeline with Sophia still in my arms.

She wasn't crying anymore, just holding onto me with her face pressed into my shoulder, her small fingers still clutching my shirt.

The others turned when they saw us.

Carol's breath caught.

"My baby!" she gasped, already running.

She nearly stumbled trying to get to us. I knelt slightly so she could take Sophia into her arms, and the girl let go of me without a word, falling into her mother's embrace.

They held each other tightly, both of them crying.

Carol rocked her, whispering her name over and over before she looked up at me, voice breaking.

"Thank you," she said. "Thank you, thank you—thank you."

Sophia turned back to me for a moment through her tears.

"Thank you," she said softly, her voice barely above a whisper.

I gave a slight nod, stepping back.

Lori moved up beside her, glancing toward the woods.

"Where's Rick?" she asked, worriedly.

"He's fine," I said quietly. "He'll be back soon."

A second later, the brush shifted again, and Rick emerged walking towards us through the trees.

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🧪 Author's Note:

Thank you all so much for the support — over +550 power stones!

I also hope you liked the new fanfic cover.

On a side note… does anyone here use Midjourney or know some good videos on creating anime characters? I just got a subscription and thought it'd be fun to start creating more visuals for this fanfic. 

And let me know what you thought about the chapter.

Thanks again for reading!


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