(Just a quick note, Ashlyn calls Walkers "Infected" in the beginning. This is just because she hasn't met the group yet, and has her own vernacular. She'll switch to "Walkers" later.)
ASHLYN
"Shit."
As my stomach let out a loud growl, the two Infected turn to face the shelf I'm crouching behind. Luckily, they try reaching their distorted arms between the shelves before staggering around to the isle I'm in, buying me some time. I stuff the last bit of supplies into my bag and with my hand grasped on my crow bar, I make a break for the door, jumping over boxes and bodies. A tall, fat Infected lunges from between two isles and I swing at his head, blood exploding from his face as he collapses onto the shelf.
Making supply runs is never a simple task, and lately, I've had to go deeper and deeper into the city to find anything worth the risk. I've noticed the best way to deal with it though follows my "Get Your Shit and Get Out" philosophy. The more time you spend in one place fighting these fuckers, the more noise you'll make and the more Infected you'll attract.
I pull my keys out of my pocket and unlock the doors with my clicker as I run up to my black pick up. I can see the Infected starting to congregate, coming out from behind cars and buildings like curious animals. I waste no time with my seat belt as I start the car and take off down the road. When I get out of my understood danger zone, I slow my speed and make my way to the outskirts of Atlanta, eventually parking under an overpass. The sun begins to set, so I put up metal sheets on the inside of my truck's windows, using hooks I had screwed in. I don't need Infected breaking in through the glass while I'm sleeping, or, even worse, other survivors.
When this whole "zombie apocalypse" started, people talked about the danger on the news, but it quickly got out of hand and suddenly, when the fear and panic spread, it was the people—the Uninfected—that became the biggest threat. Supplies were hoarded, stores were raided, and in the chaos, guns were fired. Laws were abandoned when people saw the government didn't have the time or resources to enforce them. People are selfish and under these harsh conditions, they can't be trusted. This is why I choose to keep to myself.
When I dump the contents of my backpack onto the passenger seat, my despair hits me hard. The only food I've got is half a bag of rice, four mini cans of corn, two Twix bars, a small bag of Cool Ranch Doritos, and a box of Raisonettes. And I fucking hate Raisonettes. This really isn't good. I've dealt with a lower stock of supplies before, but considering I just made a run and found almost nothing except empty shelves and Infected, things aren't looking too great. I won't last much longer picking through abandoned gas stations here. Not to mention the number of Infected are increasing at a much greater rate than I had originally anticipated. I have to move on, the city isn't safe anymore. Well, I can't really remember a time when it was safe, but it's more dangerous than I can handle.
My stomach makes more loud moans and for a second I think it's an Infected outside the truck. I pop open a can of corn, eat half, and lay curled up across the seats, still hungry. The dead silence only interrupted occasionally by the sound of the walking dead, shuffling around with nowhere to go.
DARYL
I can't believe these fuckin' assholes just left Merle chained up on a mother fuckin' roof. They never respected us and this just proves they didn't give two shits 'bout us. Now Merle's left running around Atlanta without a hand and I'm stuck with Chinaman, Officer Friendly, and the dumbass who dropped the fucking key. All they care about is gettin' their bag of guns while my brother's out tryin' to survive. They all think he's already dead, but they don't know Merle. He's tough as nails, probably half way out of the city by now, choppin' walker heads off as he goes.
This Glenn kid's got a plan figured out for tryin' to get back that bag of guns, which is right in the middle of the damn road. I'll be covering him from the alley while Rick and T-Dog wait for him two blocks down in case he needs to take a different route. I gotta admit, it's not a bad plan for a kid.
ASHLYN
The next morning I get up and figure its best to make one last run before heading out of the city. With my current supplies, I'll only last a few days if I don't end up finding anything edible out in the wild. I leave my truck behind this time and decide to walk to save up on gas. I strap my pistol to my thigh, grab my crow bar, throw on my backpack, and head into the city.
Taking a different route than usual, I cautiously make my way through the city, going through buildings and sticking to the alley ways as much as I can. I have to fight back several Infected but luckily no large groups. I'm just making a run for cover behind a car when I hear screaming coming from the alley way directly down the street from where I'm hiding. A silver car drives past me and I watch as two thugs run into the alleyway and come back out dragging an Asian looking kid. One of the guys is holding his ass where it looks like he got shot with an arrow.
My eyes widen at the familiar site and in a moment of anger and fear I run from behind cover to the silver car and point my pistol at the men. "Let the kid go you fucking shits or I'll blow your heads off!" I yell, with all the confidence that comes with adrenaline. Suddenly I'm blind-sided by a third man knocking me to the ground. I pull the trigger and hear a man scream. I hit the concrete and struggle to stay conscious as my vision blurs. I try shoving the man on top of me but his weight is no match for my weak and malnourished body. I'm lifted up and tossed into the car with the Asian boy. I look out the doorway and behind my attacker I see an angry man in the alley behind a fence blocked by Infected. I hear him yelling but can't make out his words as I lose consciousness.
DARYL
"I'm gonna kick your nuts up into your throat!" I scream at the brat that fucked up our plan. "It's a plan! The little bastard and his little bastard homie friends! I'm gonna stomp your ass!" I lunge at the kid but Rick's holding me back and the Walkers are closing in on us. T-Dog grabs the kid and runs back down the alley.
"We're cut off!" Rick yells, "Get to the ladder, GO! C'mon Daryl!"
I follow behind Rick, up the ladder as the Walkers chase after us. We make it back into the building and start interrogating the fucking brat.
"Those men you were with, we need to know where they went," Rick asks calmly. I don't know what good he thinks that will do. You can't just ask nicely with fuckers like this. I'm pacing behind him, ready to beat the shit outta the brat.
"I ain't tellin' you nothin'." See? No way this kid's telling us that way.
"Jesus man, what the hell happened back there?" T-Dog asks.
"I told you, this little turd and his douche bag friends came outta nowhere and jumped me," I spit.
"You're the one who jumped me, puto. Screaming about your brother."
"They took Glenn! And that red headed chick. Maybe they took Merle too." I can't fucking calm down. Merle's out there! These fuckers, they probably jumped Merle just like they jumped us.
"Merle? What kinda hick name is that? I wouldn't name my dog Merle. And I don't know shit about any red head chicks. She your bitch?"
I lunge at the brat but Rick hold me off. This shit talking little bastard! I'm gonna stomp his ass until he shits himself"
"Now hold on, what red head girl?" Rick asks.
"I dunno, she just fucking showed up with a gun but his stupid shit head friends snatched her." I say, but I'm already digging in my bag, pullin' out Merle's hand I grabbed off the roof. "Want to see what happened to the last guy that pissed me off?" I stride over to the kid and throw it down in his lap and he loses his shit. I'm not even gonna have to hit this pussy kid to find out what I need to know. I start grabbing him and gettin' up in his face but Rick pulls me off and asks again.
"Tell us what we need to know." The hand did the trick and the kid spills everything. He still doesn't know anything about the red head girl. Don't know what she was thinking, jumping out like that. She had a hell of a mouth on her though, I'll give her that.
ASHLYN
Everything's dark when I wake up. My arms are tied behind my back and my mouth is taped shut. Where the hell am I? And why is my head throbbing? I start moving around but freeze when I hear heavy breathing coming from a couple feet away. Suddenly, a door slams open and I hear footsteps crossing the room to the person next to me followed by a startled, muffled scream. Someone pulls the bag off my head, momentarily blinding me with light. When my eyes adjust, I see the Asian kid from before, sitting right across from me, tied up and scared. Probably a lot like how I look. The other man in the room is a Latino guy, one of the guys from the silver car.
Once I take in my situation, panic sets in. All of the possibilities of what might happen, what they might do to me, scare me. It's strange. I should be used to fear, living surrounded by dead people that want to eat me. But this is different. I have no control, I'm vulnerable. I know I have to get my shit together though.
The Asian kid looks at me curiously but then addresses the Latino man. "Where are we? What do you want from us?" The authority in his voice shocks me. Either he's more confident than he looks or he sounds more confident than he is.
"You're here cause your friends have got what we want now shut up," the man barked.
A second man walks in, "Now we're gonna ask you two a couple questions and you're gonna answer them if you want to keep this friendly." He is slightly smaller than the first man, also Latino. He has a shaved head, wears a white tee with an open button up shirt over it with a gold chain around his neck. Although he seems fairly young, he appears to have more power than the first man.
"Well, we don't know anything," the boy snaps back.
"I said shut the fuck up," the first man yells. He violently yanks the boy up on his feet by the shirt collar and pulls back his arm, about to throw a punch.
"Calm down, bro," the second man says, putting his hand on the other's arm. After a quick glance at the one who seems to be his boss, the man releases the kid, throwing him back on the ground.
"Sorry, G. Just let me know when you want me to smash his face in for you."
The man in charge, who I guess is "G", kneels down, so that he is eye level with the Asian. "Now I need you to tell me where you're little friends are hiding."
"I don't know what you're talking about," the Asian kid replies, avoiding eye contact.
G get up slowly, then glances back at me. I stare at him for a second before looking away. I have nothing to do with this. Please, just let me go. He crouches down by me this time. I feel his face close to mine but I won't look at him. He grabs my chin and gently moves my face toward him but I keep my eyes down. I hold my breath, my entire body tense.
"You're gonna help me out now, aren't you sweetheart?" He murmurs lightly in my ear. A shutter goes through my body as I shift away from him.
"Don't touch her! She doesn't even know us!"
G stands up and faces the boy but doesn't move away from me. I can tell the boy is nervous but he stares back at the man. What's he doing? Is he trying to help me?
"You don't know her?" He glances back at me, then suddenly pulls me to my feet, gripping my arm tightly. He pulls a gun from the back of his pants, pulls back the hammer with his thumb and press the barrel to my temple. The boy freezes, wide eyed. "Then you wouldn't care if I pulled this trigger now, would you?"
"Stop! She has nothing to do with this!" He's panicking, scared I'm going to die.
G digs the barrel harder into my temple. "TELL ME OR I PULL THE TRIGGER!" He screams at the poor, frightened kid. Suddenly, my fear goes away, replaced by anger.
Just as the boy opens his mouth, I jerk my head back and yell, "FUCK OFF!" I swing my leg as hard as I can, connecting with the man's shin.
Still gripping my arm, he yells a series of curses, then slams me against the wall. "The fuck do you think you're doing!? Now I'm going to give you 5 seconds to tell me where our guns are before I blow you fuckin' brains out!"
"I don't know anything about you stupid guns!"
"FIVE. Better start talking bitch."
"Stop! Just stop, ok? I'll tell you where you can find them." The Asian boy stares straight at G.
"Now that's more like it."
"They're… They're uh..," The boy clearly doesn't know what to say. But whether he really doesn't know where they are, or he's deciding whether to really tell him or not is unclear.
"No bullshit, or I'll shoot you next. Tell me where they fucking are!"
Another man walks in, "Hey, G? They, uh, they're here."
"What?" G, completely thrown back, lowers the gun. The whole room seems to be confused, and we all just stare at the man who brought the news.
"The guys from before, who took the guns. The Sheriff and the Hillbilly. They brought Migel, too."
G lets go of my arm and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and sink to the floor. He puts his gun in the back of his pants and cover his mouth with his hand, in deep thought. "Alright, I'll be right out. Matías ," he points to the man that was in the room first, "put the bags back over their heads. Bring them up to the roof. Wait for my signal."
I share a glance with the Asian boy, who is apparently equally alarmed at what was just said, before the bags are once again pulled over our faces.
I wanted to get a bit further, but I wanted to get this chapter up because I'm on 'vacation' right now, and won't be able to write much.
This is my first story so I would love it if you rate and review. I would love advice, especially feedback on the Daryl parts. I'm worried it might seem OOC. Also worried the chapter was slow. It'll be more exciting when she's with the group I swear.
Next chapter should be up next week though! Thanks for reading!