It's only been 5 days since Maggie and Kat met, but their arguements are already legendary. The first argument was when the road we're on started curving East, and Kat wanted to go back, but Maggie persisted we keep following the road.
The second encounter was when the bus ran out of gas, and Maggie had us spend the good part of a day looking for gas, but we didn't find any, so Kat had us continue on foot. We found an old one level house and that's where we've been for the last day and a half.
Maggie, Kat, Isaac and I are outside, discussing who will go on runs and whatnot, when it gets out of hand, again. This time it's over whether we should keep using our guns or not, due to the limited amount of ammo we have left. Bob's pistol ran out of ammo before they found us, and my pistol only has about 10 bullets left. I'm pretty sure Kat's shotgun is out of ammo as well, which is why she wants us all to give all our remaining ammo to Dave.
"What if we get caught in a herd, huh?! Say there's hundreds of walkers, and all we have are knives!" Maggie snaps at Kat. Kat looks pretty annoyed at this point, her forehead wrinkled and her eyes narrowed, giving Maggie a cold stare.
"We won't get caught in a herd if they don't here us, Maggie! Gun fire attracts those things, you know that! Do you really want one of us firing off a shot and bringing more of those undead fuckers down on us?"
"Well I know i'm not giving up my gun. Nope. And you can't take it from me." Maggie says, defiently, crossing her arms.
Kat, being the one that has a level head, tries to defuse the situation.
"Maggie, please. I don't want to drawn walkers as much as you do, okay? The best chance of that happening is if we don't use our guns. You understand that, right?" She says, trying to be calm.
Maggie is having none of it though. "I admit that is true, Kat, but there are worse things than walkers. Say a group comes through, people like The Governor, huh? And they'll have guns, who doesn't? We need to be prepared for that, you understand that, right?" She says, the last part in a mocking tone.
If there's anything Kat hates more than walkers, it's when someone mocks her. I know that the argument has reached it's boiling point when Maggie starts mocking Kat, because thats when Kat loses it. Isaac sees that it's about to get real, too, because he attempts to break it up, stepping in between Kat and Maggie, forcing them to back away from each other.
"Okay, hold up here guys." He starts, "I agree with both of you. Guns attract walkers, but we need to be prepared for an attack by the living. So, how about both of you keeps your guns, and everyone else gives them to Dave. Sound fair?"
Situation defused. Isaac really has a knack for that kind of stuff. Maggie and Kat both nod their heads curtly, and we all head inside to gather up guns and ammo for Dave. Inside the old house, Connor and Ashley are writing on the walls with chalk they found, with Sasha watching them. Bob and Dave are in the kitchen, talking at the table, but they both rise when we walk in.
"All guns and ammo will be given to you, Dad, expect for ours." She points at Maggie and herself. Dave nods his head in agreement.
"Okay then, i'll get a bag." He grabs one of the several empty duffles stacked in the corner and sets it on the table. Dave puts his pistol inside, followed by Isaac's semi-automatic he found hanging off of a dead walker a couple days ago. I put my gun in there, with the near empty box of ammo I keep in my pocket. Bob puts his pistol inside, and Dave zips up the duffle.
"We need to go on a run, get some more supplies before we move out tomorrow." Dave says once he's moved the bag back to the corner of the room. "Most of the food we got from the Prison is gone."
"I'll go" Maggie and I say at the exact same time. Kat tries to interject by her Dad stops her.
"Let them go, honey. You need to rest." He says, patting her shoulder. She gives in, not wanting to instigate further conflict, and retires to the living room to sit by Sasha. Maggie grabs two empty bags and exits the room silently, already ready for the run.
"Umm...I don't have a weapon here." I say to both Isaac and Dave.
Before Dave can reach in the bag to get my gun, Isaac unbuckles his machette sheath from his belt and hands it to me. I look up at him, hesitantly taking his weapon.
"Are you sure, man?" I ask nervously. He just smiles, those perfectly white teeth contrasting against his dark skin.
"O'course, man. Just don't get it too dirty." He winks, and leaves the room. I grab two duffle bags, formerly filled with food, now empty, and meet Maggie in the living room.
"Ready?" She asks. I nod, and we head out the front door, after I promise Connor that i'll be back in a couple hours once he sees me leaving. "PPPLLEEEAASSSE come back soon, Alex!" He whined. I ruffled his long black hair and told him of course, because what else am I supposed to say? "Oh yeah I might be dead in a couple hours, but don't worry because that's completely normal now!"
I'm so happy I have the rest of the group to protect them now, because if I didn't have them, them and me would both be dead by now.
As Maggie and I silently walk down the road, I think of how lucky i've been since the Prison fell. If Kat, Dave and Isaac had been thugs, and not nice, i'd be dead. Connor would be dead. Ashley would be dead. Or when I went back to the bus to get supplies, that old man walker would've got me for sure, but Kat saved me. Isaac devised the plan that got me and him out of there, alive.
So many people died at the prison, shot by The Governor's "army" or devoured by the walkers swarming everywhere once the fences were breached by the tank. People I had known for months, good people, little kids, old men and women, just mindlessly killed. But Maggie, Sasha and Bob got out somehow. Which means there must be survivors besides us, right?
"Maggie, do you know if anyone else got out?" I ask out of nowhere. She stops walking and looks at me, sadly.
"For a little bit I thought Glenn and Beth were on the bus, but they weren't. I saw Daryl blow up the tank, and run off with Beth and the kids, I think. Tyreese was cornered by two of his thugs." She says his with loads of venom, and I don't have to ask who she's referring too. Hearing that Beth made it out fills me with hope. We need to find her, and Daryl. I resolve to myself.
"Carol wasn't even there, so she might still be alive." Maggie says. "She killed Karen and David, so Rick exiled her the day before he destroyed everything."
Whoa, that's news.
"Rick...kicked her out?" I say, not believing it.
"Yeah, he told me when he got back. He said that she killed Karen and David, but I just can't see Carol doing that." She says, confusion written on her face.
"Yeah, me neither." I say, my voice wondering off.
"Other than that, I don't think anyone else made it." She says, sadness soaking her words.
"What about Hershel? Or Rick? Rick must've made it out, right Maggie? I mean, he's..well, Rick. He's the reason that we were even at the Prison. And if he made it out, Carl must've too. And what about your dad, he's so smart, he must be alive too. And Glenn's out there, we know that. Everybody can't be dead, Maggie. " I say, daring to hope that she can confirm what I just said. Please please please let them be alive.
Maggie puts a hand on my shoulder, barely holding back tears.
"I wish I could be as optimistic as you, Alex, but.." She hesitates, and I know bad news is coming. "The Governor chopped off my dad's head, Alex. He's dead. I don't know about Michonne. I saw The Governor beating on Rick, and Carl was with Daryl last I saw him, but when I saw him leave with Beth he wasn't there, so I don't know-" She stops once I fall over, crying uncontrollably.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no. This can't be happening. How could someone kill Hershel? He was so nice, and smart, and kind. And it seems like Rick is dead, and Carl, my best friend, must be dead too. I put my head in my hands and sob. Loudly. I don't care if Maggie sees, or anyone for that matter. I'm just so done.
"My best friend, Carl, dead. Hershel, dead. Rick, dead. My mom, dead. Most everyone i've ever cared about is dead or missing. How cruel is that? How am I supposed to handle that? Just suck it up and move on, right? No, not anymore, I can't. Two years of losing people, friends, family, hell, even seeing all the walkers makes me depressed. They were someone once, all of them. Millions and millions, Billions dead, replaced by satanic flesh eating monsters.
"The worst part is when I die, or Connor or Ashley or Kat, you, Isaac, Dave, when we die, we come back as them. The walking dead, cursed to eat the living until the end of time. How fucking sick is that?" My rant is interrupted with choking sobs and sniffles. I feel Maggie crouch down next to me, wrapping me in her arms, but that doesn't help. Before, it would have, but not in this world of death and destruction, where either you live a cruel, violent life as shells of who we once were, or roam as the walking dead.
"You can't think like that. Not anymore." She tries to snap me out of it, but the stern authorative sound of her voice just sends me deeper into my crying.
"You know, I lost my brother and my Mom within a month of the world ending." Her voice is softer now, almost a whisper. I lift my head up meekly out of my hands, and watch her as she continues talking, always keeping eye contact with me with those big green eyes. Soft, comforting eyes.
"By the time Rick came running up to our front door, with Carl dying in his arms, I was so sick of it. I cried myself to sleep at night. My dad told me where the rest of his group were. Told me to bring back his wife. His best friend, Shane, was there too. It just felt so...unfair. I'd lost two of the most important people in my life, and this lucky asshole still has his best friend, his son, and his wife. And then I met Glenn." She weakly smiles, cherishing the memory.
"I was sure he had a thing for me, but he didn't know I would watch him in the distance sometimes. From what I had heard, he seemed so sweet. One day, we went on a run to a pharmacy, me and him, and I caught him picking up a box of condoms. That was my chance, I thought. After that, I fell in love with him, and for almost a year we were happy. I thought I was safe. That we would live happily ever after, and raise our kids at the Prison. And then out of nowhere, it was all torn away from me. Glenn, the prison, all my friends. Gone." She's almost crying now, but continues.
"That taught me that you can never be comfortable. With anything. The people your with, where you sleep at, because one day it'll all be torn away" A tear slowly falls down her cheek, leaving a clean path in her dirt covered face. I wipe it away, and she helps me up.
"We better keep moving, I guess." I say, no emotion in my voice at all.
