Chapter 26

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New song rec... I Found a Girl by The Vamps feat. Omi. Very catchy song, but it doesn't fit this story so it isn't the sotc :)

Well it's been a while since I had a Coldplay song, so here ya go

SOTC: Princess of China by Coldplay feat. Rihanna
• Once upon a time, somebody ran

I was running before I realized what had happened. After practically tumbling (tumblr) down the stairs, it wasn't a gun that I grabbed first, but the windowsill. I peeled away the drapes, but the glass was obscured with smoke and debris.

Carl and I were the only people left in the house. He threw me Marshal's empty pistol from my duffel, and I pushed a couple rounds into it. I saw him heading for the door with several kitchen knives on his belt.

"Wait!" I held him back by his shoulder. He spun around, knives clacking together. "First of all, those are going to attract walkers like crazy." Then I turned. "And also, look at the door."

He swiveled, seeing the distressed face of Rick through the narrow window. Carl unlatched the door, and everybody piled in, dragging the limp body of... Was that Deanna?

No time to ask questions. I looked into the open maw of the door, and hundreds upon hundreds of walkers were snapping their jaws and stumbling up the stairs. I swung the door closed.

"Incoming!" Carl yelled and I scampered out of the way as he pressed a mattress against the place where the door used to be. A couch slid into place in front of it.

"What happened?!" I asked nobody in particular.

"The tower fell," said a voice from the living room. The clock tower. So it took down the wall? Why where there so many walkers? I decided to keep my mouth shut until everything calmed down.

After clicking the chamber in place, I dropped the gun into its holster on my belt and rushed to where the group had congregated around Deanna. Her bleak irises found mine as I poked my head through. She smiled, I smiled back, but I hated the way she was grimacing.

Then she peeled back her hand to show me the stringy shreds of broken skin that traced along her hip. Teeth marks mutilated her flesh.

She laughed. How could she laugh? But then again, how could I?

I felt the searing heat bead off her forehead. She would die around the time I would. I contemplated showing her that I was bit too, but the words stayed stuck in my mouth.

"What's your favorite book?"

It was the phrase Deanna had used while she found me in front of her bookshelf, weeks ago. I remembered how she had turned on the camera, how the words had just dropped out of my mouth as she beckoned them.

I didn't lie.

People were leaving. Her eyes hung heavy, bluish bags appearing under them. I squatted on the floor in front of her seat. "Do you need anything?"

That's exactly what Carl asked you. I took a breath and added, "Or do you want some alone time?"

"No, you can stay if you want to," she smiled again.

I folded my legs into criss-cross position. "How are you, uh, handling it?"

"Well..." She looked over at something behind me. "I just found out. Why do you seem so... So familiar asking that?"

"Oh," I sighed. "My brother got bit once. He was freaking out before I chopped off his finger, then he was okay."

She scrutinized my face. Sweat glazed her cheeks. "It's more than that, isn't it?"

You can't lie! But you have to. "I... Uh..."

Then there was a crash, and it sounded muffled as if it was happening at the other side of a wall. Everybody turned around. I seized the opportunity to leave, dropping an apologetic look at Deanna.

But as I tried twisting the doorknob, it stayed stiff and hard in its place. Locked. Grunts of pain came from the garage. I banged on the door. "Everything okay in there?" I asked.

Then the sound of glass splintering and walkers snarling. I heard Rick rushing down the stairs. "CORAL!" He yelled.

I scampered out of the way and Jessie took my place. "OPEN THE DOOR, RON!"

Then Rick took out his axe. I instinctively backed up as he began swinging at the door lock. His face was marred with concentration.

There was another crash, and a couple of thuds. What the hell was going on in there?

Rick finally got the door open. The walker's snarls became louder, and more glass gave way. They were coming in. Carl and Ron dashed through the door. I helped drag a heavy couch from the living room, pushing it against the wood to make a barricade, and a couple mattresses laid sideways for extra defense.

What the hell? I mouthed towards Carl, and he waved me off in a tell you later gesture.

"We knocked over a shelf," he tells Rick. "And it broke the glass."

I watched the way he didn't blink, spitting the lie out like it tasted bad. The group didn't catch on.

Carl slipped off into the side hallway, and after a couple seconds I followed him. He beckoned me into a bedroom, and when I walked through he closed the door behind us.

I didn't get a chance to sit on the bed before Carl turned around, a frantic look on his face.

His eyes twinkled with fear. Then he whispered, "Ron wants to kill me."

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A/N: this book is going to drag on for like ten more chapters, isn't it.

Oh well. I'm really excited for the next few chapters, they're going to be fun to write :)

QOTD: What's your favorite emoji (not a face or a normal thing)?
AOTD: 🙌 It's just so congratulatory and happy without saying anything

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Word count:
993

Created 4-12-16

BITE ME  ➼  C. G. 〖 #wattys2016 〗Where stories live. Discover now