Walker Killing, Man Stealing Teen

1.1

Fear and panic painfully throbs through my body. My instinct is to give up but I push on and try to continue stabbing blurred faces.

Two cold boney hands grip my shoulder and I brace for the pain of the bite. I hear a gunshot, it's the loudest gunshot I've ever heard in my life. The fingers release me.

I don't understand what is happening. The lump in my throat is thick and hard to swallow.

I hear more gunshots and the dead bodies surrounding me all start to fall. I stay frozen.

At last the only corpse left heavily drops to the floor just at my feet and I look up.

Carl and Rick are facing me with their guns pointed and smoking.

They're in the corner behind the shelves, far away from the walkers and far away from me.

The dizziness of relief and adrenaline confuses me for a second. Only a second.

That's when it clicks.

They weren't fighting this whole time. They were hiding.

The last bit of energy I have left I use to throw my knife through the air at Carl.

It just flies past him and pierces the wall.

The croak in my voice disappears as I scream the worst profanity I know.

"I almost died!" I yell.

"We were testing you," Rick says calmly but he doesn't lower his gun.

"What!?" I scream.

"We wanted to see how good of a fighter you were, and to check if you were going to run away," Rick continues.

"You were hiding!"

"You killed more than half of them," Rick says.

"You are as worse as the men that raped me!" I scream. "You act so damn righteous and you almost killed me after I damn well told you it wasn't safe here!"

I swear some more and force myself to stop screaming although every inch in my body is buzzed with electric anger.

"One day you're going to die," I say calmly. "I don't care how but when you do, I think you'll be surprised at how many people will be satisfied when you do."

"Say that again," Carl fiercely spits.

"Spot gawking at me with your one eye," I snap. "You have no idea of what I've been through."

"We're been through stuff as well. I killed my own god damn mother!" He yells.

"Carl," Rick says calmly, putting his hand on his sons shoulder. 

"Great!" I yell back. "I killed my younger brother and stood there and watched my parents cry as they were eaten! I killed the baby a man put inside of me with a rusty coat hanger, you are lucky you've only had to kill your mother!"

It's silent for a long time. The hot anger inside my blood settles and a cold calm hatred for what they did replaces it.

"I don't care if you were testing me," I say a lot quieter than before. "I don't care."

I'm so exhausted.

I leave them and go into the other room, dropping the hand pistol Carl gave me on the floor as I do so.

It stinks of flesh but the shelves are heavily stocked. I grab what I can and take the items out to the truck. I go back and grab more things. Rick and Carl join me.

When we've cleared the room we silently go back and sit in the truck again.

Carl sits in the front this time.