We darted through the woods at the fastest pace our sick and not very well rested group could muster. I would frequently look behind me to make sure all of them were there because there was no way in hell I would go back or put anyone else through that. The way those twisted minds work…
Get your head in the real world! Making up fantasies sure isn't going to make life any easier but it will definitely cost someone else for saving your sorry butt.
I shook my head to clear it of any irrelevant thoughts and focused on the task ahead. I was almost certain that we had escaped. Apparently I wasn't the only one because Andrea slowed down and turned around. I heard the shot before I felt it.
What?
"MERLE! MERLE! MERLE!" The crowds roared around me. I couldn't see anything. All I could look at was the vicious battle unfurling in front of me and the other residents of Woodbury. I stared with emotions that couldn't be deciphered. The clearest one was probably disgust or fear. I heard a sound next to me and I whipped my head to the side to see… myself? It looked like me, all except for one difference. I was one of the dead. Before I could even register what I had just seen, I started chasing me. I turned and ran as fast as I could but I wasn't moving at all. When I turned back to me, I had turned to my old friend, Penny.
"You should have been with me, you coward. When I turned, you should have gone down with me but instead you ran like the little girl you are." She advanced towards me and I shut my eyes as tight as they could go but I was already tearing up. I opened them back up to face my greatest fail and saw my family staring at me.
"Why did you kill us, Alex?" My dad asked.
"You stabbed your own brother." My younger brother said.
"You should have died with us." My mom declared.
"All you do is slow me down and thanks to you I only have one hand." My older said. He pulled out a gun and shot it at my leg.
My ears rang and I tried to sit up only to find a sharp pain in my right leg prevented me from moving it. I hissed in pain and felt that I had indeed been shot in the back of my right calf. I was too busy being in shock and pain to notice what was going on around me. I tried to focus but I already couldn't see anything because of the bright lights and my ears wouldn't stop ringing. I was finally able to see and I saw a boy my age staring at me. That wasn't all that was in front of me, though. I could sense the gun hovering over my temple. My eyes adjusted to the lighting and I shot up from the oddly comfortable ground. That was when I realized I wasn't actually on the ground. I was in a cell on a bed with a boy my age with his eyes and his gun trained on my face. Again, I had one thought running through my mind. Well, two thoughts. 1. Get Eric, get out. 2. Dang, this boy is cute. What did you expect? A relevant thought? Ha ha ha, no.
"Where am-" I started but the boy immediately cut me off.
"How many walkers have you killed?" He asked. I cocked my head to the side in confusion and said,
"Too many to count." I looked him straight in his admittedly adorable eyes and he looked away and asked,
"How many people have you killed?" Before I could answer, my dream flashed through my head and I could feel that I was about to break down. I bit my lip, shut my eyes as tight as I could, and took a deep breath.
"Five." I answered, my voice cracking which made me blush. He raised his eyebrows slightly and asked one more question,
"Why?" That broke me. I couldn't control myself anymore. I just wanted to be with my brother and be safe. An involuntary sob escaped my mouth and I curled up in the smallest ball I could make with my arms wrapped tightly around my legs. Looking back on it, that might have made the boy a little uncomfortable. Oh well. I was too upset to care. Just as I started to cry uncontrollably, footsteps from outside the cell got louder and the weight on the bed shifted. I looked up to see my brother hugging me and trying to soothe me down. I swung my arms around his neck tightly and buried my face into his shoulder. After a minute or two, I had calmed down mostly. Someone cleared their throat and I realized that the boy was still standing awkwardly next to the bed, his gun in the holster. I let go and smiled slightly at Eric. He rubbed my head and got up, taking the chair a little way away from the bed but still in the room. I sniffled and resumed my posture, wiping away any tears. I took a deep breath and said,
"Either they… asked me to, or they threatened me or my brother." I looked confidently at the boy and after a second, he nodded and said,
"My name is Carl Grimes. You?"
"Alex, Alex Hunter."
"Don't worry, you're safe here." Eric said.
"Where is here?"
"Welcome to the prison, Alex. Try not to die."
