A/N: Hello, thanks for taking the time to read this story! This is the first time in three years I have written anything, so i'm a bit rusty. So, here's "Pay to Live, Free to Die"!
Disclaimer: I do not own "The Walking Dead" or any of it's characters. I only own Sarah.
She has done a lot of running in her life, but nothing could prepare her for the amount of running she is doing now. Three of the undead chase her through the woods of Georgia, hungering for the flesh of the young woman running from them.
Alone, she has no one to help her with her current situation.
Being alone has its advantages, but has its disadvantages too. Being alone means no one would be watching your back, but being with someone could get you stabbed in the back. It's hard to trust someone in this new world where the law is non-existent and greed overrides morals.
The Apocalypse is a cruel time where your limits are tested and only the strongest of wills are allowed to survive. You have to be smart, careful, and willing to do whatever it takes to stay alive. The punishment for just one simple mistake could be death if one is not careful.
Having three of the undead after her with only a handgun as her only weapon is probably not the smartest choice. However, she is a fast runner and can outrun them. Although, not eating with little rest is taking its toll on the young woman.
"C'mon legs, don't fail me now." The long haired brunette could hear the groans of the dead grow closer as the muscles in her legs burn are ready to give out.
If her tired legs aren't enough, her lungs are begging for air from the endless amount of running she's been doing. After all the dead don't get tired, but they are slow compared to a living human.
She is too scared to use her gun in fear of drawing even more undead to her. As she runs, she looks around for options of escape. The only option she found is the many climbable trees that surround her.
Using what little strength is left in her legs, she dashes toward the nearest tree and scurries up its branches high enough that the undead can not reach her.
Finally able to catch her breath, she allows her lungs to receive all the air they need. Though the growls of the dead give the resting woman little relief as she now realizes there is no escape until the rotting corpses are distracted by something else.
"Well, at least they can't bite me."
Still, she wonders how long she will be stuck in the tree. Hungry and tired with no food and little water, she knows she won't last long. The only hope she has is that the dead would move on; allowing the living woman to roam the woods for safety once more.
As the young female sat in the tree with rotting hands below reaching up to her, she thought of her family. She wishes she never went on a road trip by herself across Georgia to explore her home state. Now she wonders what became of her parents, her three older brothers, and the rest of her family. She knows her father can hold his own, but fears for her kind, loving mother. She can only hope that her father will keep the mother of four safe.
She looks down and realizes that while she was lost in her thoughts, two more undead joined the other three. At this moment the young woman knows she will be stuck in the tree for a while.
By the time the sun has set, the tired runner knows that she will not be leaving the tree tonight. The moving corpses make no indication of leaving anytime soon and she prepares herself for a long sleepless night.
As she sits uncomfortably in the tree, she thought back to the time when she first saw the dead walking. She was sleeping in a cheap motel room when she woke up to the sound of a woman screaming. She remembers how she walked out of her room to investigate and the sight before her would change everything. Outside one of the motel rooms a few doors down from hers, a middle aged woman was laying on the ground screaming bloody murder as a scary unkempt looking man tore at her throat with his teeth, blood spurting on the poorly maintained pavement.
She would never forget those screams.
The tired woman feels a chill in the air run up her spine, making her shiver. It may feel like summer, but in the woods it feels cooler because of the shade of the trees.
The cool air, the bark of the tree digging into her body, her empty stomach, and the growls of the dead keeps her awake for the remainder of the night.
The first rays of the sun poke its light through the trees, making the woods look serene and beautiful. The groans of the dead however, ruin the peaceful feeling. Still, the hungry, tired hungry young woman block their demands for her flesh to appreciate the moment that not everything is dead and the world can still be beautiful in a time where it's forgotten.
The moment of appreciation passes and the noises of the dead reach her ears, reminding the woman of her predicament.
She did not want to die and she certainly did not want to die up in a tree surrounded by flesh eating corpses. The handgun on her hip has only three bullets; which is not enough to take down the five dead ones below her. Even if she did have enough, the noise would only attract more unwanted company.
A couple more hours pass, the sun high enough in the sky to give more light to the woods. With the sun, comes the heat and with only half a bottle of water left, the brunette knows she will be dehydrated if she can't get down the tree and find more.
Suddenly the female hears the snap of twigs and prays it's not another undead to join the others that have gathered under her.
"C'mon Darylina, I think ya got 'nough squirrels to feed those pathetic sumbitches back at camp."
The undead don't talk, fear and hope fills the woman's heart. The living can be even more dangerous, but with her current situation she will certainly die.
"Shut up, Merle. Ya hear that." Another man's voice joins the first man's voice in conversation.
A moment of silence passes before the first man talk again.
"Sounds like them geeks."
"We should take 'em out before they reach camp." The second man suggests.
"Who cares 'bout 'em? They don't do nothin' for us." the first one hollers.
"I don't want 'em gettin' any of the deer out here. I'm gettin' tired of eating squirrel. That 'nough reason?"
"Fair 'nough lil' brother. Let's take 'em out."
The bushes rustle from the direction of the two men's voices and the two men emerge out of them. One carries a crossbow and the other hold a large hunting knife. The young woman could tell from their accents and speech that they are certainly southern. Now that should could see them, she knows they're rednecks.
The man with the crossbow is wearing a sleeveless buttoned up shirt with tan cargo pants and boots. He has a few stringed up squirrels with him. The man with the hunting knife is dressed in a similar way, but darker clothing.
"Wowee, lookie here lil' brother!" The older brother spots the young woman in the tree. Not just a woman, but an attractive woman. Better looking than the ones back at camp.
"Holy shit." The crossbow wielder did not expect this when he went hunting today.
The young woman knows there's no way out of her situation. She could only hope that these men are good and will not take advantage of her.
"I'm sorry to ask this of two strangers, but could you please help me? I've been stuck up here since yesterday." She's scared, but her tone of voice is polite.
"Yesterday?" The hunter could not hide his surprise.
"Yes, they won't leave."
"Since ya asked politely." The older male smirks.
The two brother make quick work of the undead, their skills clearly are not to be underestimated. She is in awe on how quick they took down each one.
"Git down here sweetcheeks, coast is clear."
Her body stiff from lack of movement, she slowly climbs down the tree. The two men study her and she in turn does the same. She didn't know if the two men before her could be trusted, but they did just save her life. She decides to give them the benefit of the doubt and give them a chance.
"Thank you for saving me."
"You alone?" The man shifts his eyes around scanning the area.
"Yes, i'm alone." She decides to answer honestly. If she was with someone, she wouldn't have been stuck in a tree in the first place.
"Ya got a name, sweetcheeks?" His eyes roam over her body, liking what he sees.
"Sarah Brooks, but you can call me sweetcheeks since you're fond of the name." She hopes that her little joke would get the two brothers to see that she's harmless.
The knife wielder lets out a little laugh to her comment.
"I like 'er. Got a sence of humor, this one does. I'm Merle Dixon, an' this dumbass hee is my younger brother, Daryl."
"Shut up, Merle." The younger brother growls in frustration.
"We should take 'er back to the camp wit' us. Might make thangs more interestin'." Merle's eyes are drawn to Sarah's chest, while average, they are nice to look at.
"You have a camp? What are the people like?" Sarah's interest is piqued at what their camp is like. She hopes they're good people because she truly doesn't want to be alone anymore. She wants to have the comfort of people in her life again.
"Just some lazy cityfolk that dunno waht they're doin'." Merle snorts, clearly not liking the people he's staying with. For what reason Sarah is curious about, but won't ask.
"Merle, knock it off. That's not what she's askin'. Most of 'em are families, women, kids." Daryl could see that the woman before him is tired and probably hungry, but her politeness and honesty won him over a little.
"It would be nice not to be alone, especially what happened with those dead people."
"Ain't people, they're sumthin' else." Daryl shifts uncomfortably, not used to so much conversation unless it's his brother.
"They were people once, but now the only thing we can do is put them to rest." Sarah truly believes this with all her heart. She knows they're dangerous, but they were alive once before they turned.
Daryl stare at the brunette for a moment, letting her words sink in. They were once people like them. They didn't choose to hurt others. He forgot about that in his travels since this all began. He gives her a little nod in understanding.
"Is your camp safe?" Even if the people are good, safety is more important.
"Yeah, haven't seen any of 'em geeks around here until now." He points his crossbow down at the five rotting corpses at the base of the tree.
"Okay, will you please take me to your camp?" The thought of sleeping somewhere safe makes her eager to see what their campe is like.
"Yeah, dune with huntin' anyway."
"C'mon Darylina, let's take sweetcheeks home." Merle is clearly happy that they're bringing Sarah back with them. She's nice to look at and Merle likes looking at nice things, especially if they have a nice ass and a good pair of tits.
And so, the Dixon brothers lead the camp's newest member back to the camp. While not in their nature to save people that are not their blood; the fact that she didn't look down on them like a piece of trash make them more curious about her. Besides, Daryl could tell the woman walking behind them would have surely died had they not saved her and in the back of his mind, it wouldn't sit well with him if she did.
Sarah wonders what fate has in store for her. Little did she know, she's doing exactly what fate wanted.
A/N: Please leave a review, the more I get, the more motivation i'll have to continue. Thanks for reading!