She stared at the small hole in the ceiling as the morning light streamed in through the cracks of the boarded up windows. She tried not to be bothered by the light intruding in, telling her that it is time to wake up. To her, sleep was a foreign action. Something she had forgotten how to do in a long while.
She sat up slowly, listening to the jingle of the dog tags around her neck. She looked down and stared at them for a good whole minute before balling up her fist around them. She felt the dull pain of the dog tags leaving a temporary mark on her palms before letting them go. Picking up her knife, she turned to face the wall and carved a horizontal line across 4 previously marked vertical lines. Putting her knife back safely in its sheath, she turned her attention back to the wall.
60 lines - 60 days.
It has been 60 days since she was left alone in this apartment. While she had food stocked to last her another month, she wasn't going to use them. She wasn't going to sit in this apartment any longer.
They had promised they'd come back for her. So why haven't they?
She shook her head as she gathered up the essentials with her weapons. If they hadn't come back for her, it means that they either got attacked on the way or something worse has happened. She couldn't sit and hope for their return anymore. She had to go to them.
Standing up, she adjusted the hockey mask that sat atop her head before putting on her backpack where two hockey sticks crossed in an 'X' stuck out. She put on a leather belt that held a handgun and her knife. Looking at the wall one last time, she noticed the picture stuck to it. Reaching over, she pulled it off the wall before walking out of the apartment.
She put the photo in the pocket of her jacket and took a breath as she headed down the stairs towards the exit. Her path was clear as day, thanks to the exercise she did everyday. Stray Walkers didn't stand a chance crossing into her territory.
Getting out onto the main street, she sees the train tracks to her right. The last time she saw them walking down the tracks, they had hope in their eyes and smiles on their faces.
"We'll come back for you!"
Those words echoed in her memory every day. Not a day goes by without her wondering what would have happened if she joined them? But now wasn't the time for that.
She made her way on to the tracks and just as she looked up, she spotted the smoke coming from the direction she was headed.
"No..." She whispered.
Without hesitating, she started to pick up a pace, breaking into a run towards her destination. She wasn't sure how long it was till she reached when she spotted a group of people making their way towards the direction she was coming from. With more motivation, she ran towards them, making them stop for a brief second.
They watched as she approached them, looking hard at each one of them before turning her attention back to the burning building they just came from. One of them reached out to grab her arm.
"Where are you going?" He asked.
She looked at the bearded man holding onto her arm. "I'm going to Terminus."
"Why?" A tall, muscular red-headed man asked.
"It's none of your business." She replied.
The bearded man gestured to the gun in his other hand. "If you're one of 'em, it is our business."
"Rick. We have to go."
She looked at the Asian guy who was looking from the bearded guy to her.
"Did you guys just come out from Terminus?" She asked.
"Yes, we did." A girl with a Southern accent replied. "Why?"
"Did you see 3 other people inside? They are a couple in their fifties along with a son who is in his thirties." She said. "Are they alive? Did they make it out?"
She looked at the faces of each one of them and even before anyone could answer her, she braced herself for the worse.
"We didn't see anyone else but us and the screwed up Terminus community inside. But, I don't know... They might have made it out alive." The Asian guy said.
"You should come with us. It's not safe to go back there." Said a short girl next to Glenn.
"No, I gotta go in there." She replied.
She tried to wrestle out of Rick's grip but he only caught onto her wrist harder. She glared at him and he stared back at her. "That place is overrun by Walkers now. Goin' in means walkin' to your death. Come with us."
She frowned and tried harder to make Rick release her wrist. He was tempted to let her go but he knew he had to save her life. If she walked in and died, it will be on his conscience.
"Rick, don't mean to rush you but we've got company."
She turned around just as the others looked straight ahead. A horde of Walkers were headed in their direction and they were about to face them full-on if they didn't seek shelter quick.
Rick looked back at her and he let her wrist go. "Your choice."
She looked ahead of her at the burning Terminus and at the others in the group with Rick. She could head straight for Terminus and die getting in or she could follow this group and eventually get them to help her locate the people she's looking for.
Deciding not to be stupid, she gritted her teeth. "Fine."
Not delaying another second, the group hurriedly got off the tracks and entered the forest just as a couple of Walkers started coming for them. They managed to fight a few off before getting further into the forest, away from the tracks.