The Walking Dead

Chapter 27

 Guilt flashed across Carol’s face at my words. She let go of my shoulder and took a few steps back. “I just wanted to say sorry for how I’ve been treating you lately.” She mumbled.

I stared at her, my eyes squinted in disbelief. “And why would you want to do that after a month or so of physically and emotionally abusing me? As far as I can see, you have no reason to apologize to me now.”

Carols face morphed into a scowl, “Can’t you just accept my apology and just move on?” She asked, frustrated.

I snorted, “Carol. You physically and mentally abused me. You, the woman who knows what it’s like to be abused by someone she cares about, brought a hand to my face on multiple occasions. It’s not just something I can easily forgive, and definitely not forget.”

Carol sighed, “Fine. What do I have to do to get you to at least accept my apology?”

“You’re gonna have to prove that you mean it. For all I know you could be saying you’re sorry because Daryl told you to, or maybe Rick told you to because it’s not good to have people who can’t stand each other in a group.” I said. “If that’s all, I’m leaving.

I walked away without waiting for her answer. I sighed, shaking my head as I walked and looked for Rick and Daryl.

“Did either of you tell Carol to apologize to me?” I asked, approaching both men.

“I didn’t.” Rick said. He turned to Daryl, “Did you?”

Daryl shook his head in denial. “No, I haven’t spoken to her since last night, actually.” He frowned, obviously remembering the fight they had regarding me and how often Daryl talks to me.

I shrugged, “Alright. Thanks. Sorry to interrupt.” I waved before walking away.

“Not a problem!” Rick called after me before going back to discussing plans with Daryl.

I frowned, my eyebrows furrowing in thought. If Rick or Daryl didn’t tell Carol to apologize, then who did? She couldn’t just have decided to apologize herself. Nothing leading up to now hinted to her thoughts of apologizing. She never sent me any looks besides glares, she hasn’t even told anyone she was thinking of saying sorry to me. A frustrated grunt escaped my mouth as I frowned.

Okay, let’s go back. Daryl nor Rick told Carol to apologize. Obviously Carol wouldn’t apologize herself because she has a gigantic grudge against me and believes I got her daughter killed. Nobody else here in the camp really has a reason to get Carol to apologize to me besides… Lori. I sighed, shaking my head as I turned to walk towards Lori and Carl.

I smiled, “Hello Carl. Can I bother your mom for a second?”

He nodded, and Lori ran a hand through his hair before she followed you just out of earshot of the little kid. “What did you need?” She asked, wringing her hands.

I narrowed my eyes at her nervous habit. “You told Carol to apologize to me, didn’t you?”

“…Yes.” Lori admitted. “I’m sorry. It’s just… when you first came here, you were the first person to call Ed out on abusing Carol, and definitely the first one to take action to get him to stop. Or at least tried to get him to stop. You pretty much risked your healthy for her, and she repays you by blaming the death of Sophia on you? It just didn’t settle right with me.”

I nodded, “Alright. That’s all I wanted to know. Thanks Lori.” I smiled at her quickly before walking off once again.

I sighed, plucking a small knife from its holster on my leg and twirling it around my fingertips. Expression bored, I flicked my wrist, sending the small silver knife into a tree. I yanked it from the bark, grumbling under my breath while wiping the blade along my pants to get the remaining bark off.

Snap!

I froze, my heart stuttering in my chest. “Oh please not now.” I whispered, “Not when I’m just starting to recover.”

My eyes looked frantically through the surrounding trees, searching for what I feared would be there. I bit my lip, blood trickling from the self-inflicted wound as I turned around and sprinted to Rick and Daryl.

“Rick, there are walkers coming.” I hissed in a low voice.

His eyes widened, “What?” He whispered.

“There are walkers coming.” I repeated urgently.

“You need to get everyone out of here before chaos erupts and-“ I was cut off as a hysterical scream erupted from behind me. “- everyone panics.” I grabbed the machetes strapped to my back and turned, ready to kill. “Get everyone in a car and leave. Now. We can’t afford to let anyone else die or let anyone else lose a loved one."

I took off, slipping between people as they ran to their tents to get their weapons. I swung and hacked left and right, sweat building and dripping off my body from the movements. Briefly, I paused and looked around. Walkers were everywhere, and more were still coming. I released something close to a growl under my breath and turned around, running to the RV.

I climbed up the side of it as fast as I could, then standing on top of it, I shouted into the chaos, “Get everyone you can find and leave! Rick, take Lori and Carl and lead the way! We’ll figure out where to go when we meet up, but everyone need to leave! Now!”

 Then I jumped down, looking for Daryl. I sighed in relief as I saw him, jogging towards him as he released an arrow. “Daryl.” I panted, bracing my elbows on my knees briefly. “You need to go. Get Carol and anyone else you can find and get in one of the cars. Rick will drive first, follow him until you stop, then find somewhere safer. This place wasn’t going to last long anyways. It didn’t have walls, and there was no form of protection. Aim for something that has a way of protecting you inside.”

“What about you?” He panted, skimming my face quickly before looking away again.

I snarled as I threw a dagger at a walker. “What about me? Get everyone in a car, I’ll hold them off as long as I can until everyone who can be saved is safe. If everything goes smoothly, I’ll get in the last car.”

“You could get bitten though!” Daryl protested.

“Thanks Captain Obvious. I won’t get bitten or die. I’ll see you when everyone is safe.” I paused. My heart accelerated at the thoughts in my head. What the hell? I thought with a shrug. Turning to Daryl, I gripped the nape of his neck, bringing his face down towards mine. When our lips touched, a shiver ran through my body. I dropped the dagger in my right hand, gripping the side of his face as I kissed him.

His lips moved against mine, almost desperately, and I was reminded of why I was still here. I pulled back, our foreheads resting on each other’s before I stepped back and grabbed my dagger from the ground. “Now go!” I shouted, turning back to the horde that was fast approaching.

I felt the ghost of someone’s lips dance across my neck. “You better be there or so help me, I will kill you.” Daryl growled before he ran off.

I suppressed a shiver.

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Yay! Another update! Anyways, it’s getting a bit hard to come up with plot ideas. I’m still going to try to write this and update more frequently, but the writing quality will be lacking a bit. It took over 4 hours to write this chapter, and the quality isn’t my best work, but it’s something.  

Comment, Vote, Follow, you know the drill.

xxThree.