like real people do | c.g [#wattys2019]

S A D

MY HEAD POUNDS AS I WAKE, hearing screams. "-Well, I'm taking her with me. And you're coming with us. Let's go." I groan as I open my eyes. Glenn and some girl I don't recognize turn to face me. I look around, noticing we're in one of the secluded entrances to the guard towers.

"What's going on?" I ask, bringing my hand towards my cut, which has stopped bleeding. Then, everything rushes back. Hershel, losing Carl in the crowd, everything. I shoot up, ignoring the pain in my head. "Where's Carl? ...Glenn, where's Carl?" I ask, looking around. All there is around us is smoke and walkers. Everyone's either dead or gone.

"Are you just gonna stay here? You're just gonna die?" He asks, ignoring me.

"I was part of this." She says. I don't hesitate to unsheathe my knife. Glenn looks startled, but she stays expressionless.

"Casey, she saved your life. Put that down." He says, calmly. I frown, confused, but do as I'm told. She's the one who shot the man. "I know." He turns back to her.

"So, what're you doing here?" She asks.

"I need your help. We need your help." He says, glancing at me. I go to intervene, when I realize the meaning behind his words. He doesn't know where Maggie is either. He's in the same boat as me.

We introduce ourselves and I learn her name is Tara Chambler, before Glenn takes a whiskey bottle and a rag, making a Molotov cocktail, and handing us both guns. I take it, but she hesitates as he explains the plan. "Only when I run out of bullets." He says.

He lights it up and throws the Molotov cocktail, and I unlock the door. The walkers start moving towards the fire and he grabs his things. "I need you to stay ahead of me. I'll cover you, but I can't do it alone." Tara tells me to stay behind her as we run out, shooting everything near us. We run out the gate and keep going until we reach the road. "Did you see if any of our people got out?" Glenn asks, once we're far enough to walk.

"All I saw was my sister in that field. She wasn't supposed to be there, she had a gun, but they just swarmed her. She wasn't supposed to be there, I did it for them. I trusted him, and then he just killed that old man..." She trails off, sobbing softly.

"Hershel?" Glenn stops dead in his tracks. I look back at him, nodding as tears start prickling at the corners of my eyes.

"I'm sorry." She whispers, crying. "I'm so sorry. Brian- that man told us you were bad people. I know it's not true, I can see it's not. So what we did, what I did... I'm a piece of shit. Why would you want my help?"

"I don't want it, I need it... I have to find Maggie." He states, as I wipe the fresh tears from my face. "My wife."

"You guys got separated?" She asks, sighing as she turns around.

"I was on the bus, and then I got off to help and she didn't see me." He explains.

"How do you know if she made it?" She asks.