Karen Wood: Thanks for the review! Funnily enough, Aly wasn't actually going to last this long... When the prison fell and everyone was separated, she was originally going to end up never being found until Vickie entered Terminus with Carol and the walkers. She would have seen Aly as a walker, limping in, all grotesque... But... I got attached, hence why she's still around. Though, you never know, things are going get pretty chaotic soon...
MissTeller-Ortiz-Dixon: Thank you for the review (your consistency keeps me going!) :):) I love the Aly/Vickie scenes too. It's a nice break from the drama in their lives. Vickie has definitely grown up and changed since the beginning. As I said above, things are about to get chaotic, but I can't wait for you guys see what's coming up. Tears, laughs and a whole lot of trouble ;P
Bamby
DPOV
"All right." Sasha called over the walkie.
"That's twenty?"
"It will be, six forty-two is a mile ahead." Sasha answered. "We gotta put distance between us and them before the turnoff."
"So, floor it." Abraham spoke up.
"A'right, try to keep up."
"Daryl, have you looked at this car?" Sasha asked with a chuckle. "Believe me, we want to get back there, too."
I believed that, but I was sure I wanted to get back more. We hadn't heard from any of the others, which had my worry growing. Sasha and Abraham were sure it was only because of the distance between us and Alexandria, but that didn't ease any of my thoughts.
Vic was the one thing on my mind. I had no idea if she'd gotten back home safely. I have no idea if she got caught up in what had been happening there. I have no idea if she got stuck with the walker herd. I knew nothing. It was killing me.
As I was riding ahead, going through a small town, suddenly, out of nowhere, people started shooting at us.
Speeding up I tried to get through, turning sharply around some abandoned vehicles in a parking lot. I lost control as the bike toppled over, sending me to the ground. I knew I was hurt, but with the shooters still shooting and now coming after me I didn't have a lot of options. So, I got back on the bike and rode off, moving through a small group of walkers and down a dirt road, making sure I moved in a zigzag so the bullets missed me.
...
I'd lost both the shooters, and Sasha and Abraham. As much as I wanted to go make sure Sasha and Abraham were okay, I couldn't. I was hurt, and needed to fix myself up first. So I'd ridden into a burnt-up forest, dropped my bike once I was far enough in, and let myself fall to the ground.
The sound of a snarl had me look to my right where a walker which was barely anything but bone was laying on the ground, a biker's helmet on its head, covering its face. Knowing it couldn't get me or move I let my head fall as I laid there, looking up at the sky, catching my breath and thinking over my next move. But as much as I knew I had things to do, like find the others and take a look at where I was hurt, I couldn't get my mind off home. I couldn't stop myself from wondering about Vic... I knew there was nothing I could do as long as I was out here, so instead of worrying about her, I decided it was time I took action.
Getting to my feet, I pulled my bike up before getting a good grip of the handles so I could push it through the forest. I had no real idea where I was going, but was moving anyway. I knew that was the only way I was getting home. Only thing was... I wasn't moving fast enough. Not with this heavy bike and injury.
Finding a bush, I dropped the bike and used the eaves to hide it. I'd come back for it later. For now, I couldn't have it holding me back. I'd find the others and then get the bike.
Pulling out the walkie, I stepped over the bike. "Sasha. Abraham, you there?" I called, but got nothing back.
There was no point in trying again, if they heard me they would have radioed back. So instead I took my glove off, seeing that it was soaked in blood. Moving carefully, I pulled my jacket off as well, as I tried to get a look at my arm I'd landed on and hurt. I was going to need stitches. With the blood, I couldn't see much, but I knew that at least.
Draping the jacket over my bike I stopped at the sound of something moving behind me. Pulling the bush leaves over both my bike and jacket I then grabbed my crossbow and started towards the noise, needing to know if it was a walker, one of the shooters, or something else.
As I rounded a tree I found two girls around Vic's age. One was taller than the other by not much, and had long, straight, dark hair. The other had short blonde hair. Both stood at the sight of me, their hands in the air.
"You found us, okay?" the dark haired one said. "Here we are. We earned what we took." her eyes flicked over my shoulder then.
I spun around, ready to defend myself if need be. But I was hit across the head before I could do anything else.
...
I was in and out of consciousness. I knew it was dark. I knew I was tied up. I knew there was a fire in front of me. Whenever I managed to wake up I'd open my eyes just enough to see that there was now a guy with the girls, carving away at a small wooden thing. He was thin like the others, clearly in bad shape. Covered in dirt like the girls as well. His dark blonde hair was tied up and ratty, which made him look even worse.
If they hadn't attacked me, I would have brought them back home...
"Probably just another soldier from one of the outposts." the guy spoke to the girls. "Probably hates him, too."
...
One of the girls, the dark haired one, reached for my crossbow while I was still pretty out of it.
"You know how to use one?" she asked the guy she was with as she tucked my crossbow into a bag.
"Yeah. Never liked using them to hunt." he answered.
...
I was still pretty dazed, and it was still night. I wasn't sure how long I'd been like this, but the others were still there, talking to themselves.
"We pick up Patty, then we're gone. Okay?" the guy told the girls. "This is the last day we're gonna live like this."
...
I woke up, with a head. It was morning, the sound of crickets chirping coming from everywhere. My back and neck hurt from how I'd been sitting last night, and my wrists ached from being tied.
"Get up." the guy, who was crouched in front of me, tabbed my leg. "Hey! Get up!" he cocked his gun, pointing it at my head. "We're movin'. Here's the deal. You don't say shit and I don't kill you."
"I ain't who you think." I told him.
He moved the gun closer to my face. "Say something else." he nodded. "Go ahead." when I didn't say anything, and kept my mouth shut, he grabbed my ties, pulling me to my feet. "Follow them." he gestured towards the girls who then started to walk ahead while the guy stayed behind me, gun to my back.
Things were not looking good. These people were clearing not going to let me go. So, I had to think. I had to figure out how I could get away... I just had to wait and think until something came up.
...
The dark haired one reached into the big duffel bag she was carrying and pulled out a water bottle, offering it to the blonde. "Here. Drink the rest."
The blonde took the bottle and looked down at it. "We should save it."
"We'll find some more. Drink." the dark haired one insisted. "you're supposed to stay hydrated. It all works together."
"Yeah, it does." the blond sighed before taking a drink of the water.
When she handed it back, the brunette stopped walking, offering me the last bit of water. "Have it." she nodded.
When I didn't take it, the guy grabbed it off her, putting it in my face. "We don't need you falling down. Drink.
Taking the bottle, I did as they said. These people were clearly not thinking straight. They were on the run from someone, I'd gotten that much, and weren't in good shape. The last thing I needed was to piss them off.
"They find us, maybe we give you to them." the guy told me as I finished the water. "They let us call it even. See, we're reasonable people. Everybody's got their code. You feel you got to kneel, that's far enough. We don't." he took the empty bottle from me. "Let's go."
...
"Can't believe we're back." the blonde spoke up as we continued to walk through the burnt down forest.
"It's not home anymore." the brunette told her. "It's better than where we were."
"This is a pit stop." the guy added, still walking behind me. "We pick up Patty, nothing more than that."
"How'd you do it?" the blonde asked, looking around her.
"You saw where we left the truck?" the guy asked, getting a nod from the blonde. "We opened the valve and drove all the way in from Farmview Road, ran from the tree line till we got to the pavement, lit up a matchbook from the Sweetwater and dropped it in on the trail, and we just ran for the car. Got in, and the dead ones were there. They were beatin' on the hood and then... And then boom! Knocked them on their asses and I took an axe to each one."
"We just watched it go up." the brunette added. "No more moans, no more of that wailing. It was just the fire, just burning them all away."
"You did all this?" I asked, speaking up for the first time in a while.
"It was right at the start." the brunette told me. "Everything stopped. TV, the radio. We were here. The forest was full of them. And the others one in town, they were drawn to it. They just walked right into the flames. We got most of them. Thought we ended it for us, and she was in D.C." she gestured to the blonde. "We thought everyone was fighting them wherever they were."
"Yeah, we thought that was what everybody was doing." the guy nodded. "Fighting it, so we'd all win together... We were stupid." he sighed, moving ahead.
I stopped in my tracks. "Y'all don't think you're being stupid right now?"
They all stopped, the guy pulling out his gun as he moved towards me again, aiming at my face. "you're saying I should kill you? I mean it. Are you gonna try and pull something on us? Or are we just being thick here by not removing all doubt? Right now, by me not pulling this trigger, is that a mistake? I'm serious. I really wanna know. You made the choice to kill for someone else. To have them own you for a roof over your head and three squares. So maybe I'm not considering all aspects here. You tell me. Am I being stupid?"
"No." I answered with after only a seconds pause.
I couldn't let these people kill me. I couldn't let them keep me from getting home. If that meant I stayed tied up until my moment came, then I would. If that mean doing and saying what they wanted, then I would. There was nothing keeping me from getting back to Vic.
I shifted on my feet. "Look, I got somewhere to be. I got people waitin' on me. We can make a deal. I could help you out." I offered.
"You're one of them. You're hurt and you're alone, and you'd say anything." the guy wasn't having any of it. "We should've never trust you people to begin with." he gestured for me to move. "Go on. Keep moving."
...
We came to the end of the trees. Here, they were green and still alive. The fire hadn't gotten this far. As we stepped out, into a small opening, the others moved to the fence only a few feet away as they looked down at the sight in front of them.
"Son of a bitch." the guy scanned the grounds of the fuel company we stood by, looking at all the walkers inside the fence. "Patty."
"She could be..." the brunette shifted on her feet as she sighed.
"No, she's gone." the guy shook his head.
The brunette nodded. "Then we make another plan."
The guy turned to her. "Yeah, we get out of here. That's the plan."
"Then that's the plan." the brunette shrugged.
"You guys don't have to do this for me." the blonde spoke up.
"Look, it was the right thing for all of us." the brunette insisted.
The blonde looked to her. "Is this the right thing? Even if just you guys went back now, if you just told them that it was me..."
"No." the brunette shook her head. "We'll find a way."
"Just think about it." The blonde wasn't letting it go.
The brunette wasn't giving in either. "No."
"Look, maybe we don't get as far-" the guy started.
But suddenly the blonde collapsed, the other two moving to help her.
Now was my time. I grabbed their bag that they'd dropped and made a run for the trees, hearing them calling after and shoot at me as I kept running off, knowing I had to get as far away as possible.
...
I jumped over a fallen trunk, getting to the floor and hiding behind it and I pulled on the rope around my wrists with my teeth. Using the trunk as well, I managed to get my hands free before reaching for the bag and pulling out the walking.
Panting hard and fast, I called over the radio. "Sasha, Abraham, are you there?" static was all I got back.
A twig snapped and a walker moaned from behind me. I turned and saw it walking this way, getting closer.
Moving quickly, I reached back into the bag, trying to get my crossbow out. But they'd tucked it in good, and as much as I tried, it wasn't budging.
The walker kept coming, getting closer and closer.
My heart, which was already beating fast, was now hammering in my chest as I struggled with the crossbow. Pulling and tugging, adjusting the bag in any way I could, I tried to get the crossbow out.
Finally, it was out. Luckily it was set, so as I turned and leaned back, the walker now only a few steps away from me, I pulled the trigger killing it in an instant.
Letting myself relax a little, but not completely, I got to my feet, ready to figure out what to do next. That's when my eyes landed on the bag as it sat by my feet. There, sitting on top of everything else, was a cooler, with the word 'Insulin' written on it.
Well, shit.
...
I found the three of them sitting on a log, the blonde still in pretty bad shape. But I wasn't going to let them fool me. If she was sick, if she wasn't, it didn't matter. I was gonna do what I came to do and then get the hell out of there.
Aiming my crossbow at them, I moved in sight. "Drop the gun! Drop it!"
The guy had stood up at the sound of my voice. But after seeing me aiming my crossbow at him, he thought twice and lowered the gun.
"Give it to me." I reached out. Once the gun was in my hand I tucked it away, taking a couple steps back. "Came all this way. What you got for the duffel? You put me through too much shit just to give it back. Principle of the thing. What you got besides this gun?"
"Nothing." the blonde answered.
I looked from her, to the guy. "What was that thing you were carvin'?"
Shaking his head, he pulled it out of his pocket. It was a little wooden soldier. "My grandfather taught me-"
I cut him off. "Don't care. It'll do." I reached my hand out, and he handed the thing over. I tucked it into my pocket before tossing the bag on the ground. "Take it. It's all there."
The guy cautiously bent down and grabbed the bag, handing over to the girls.
"Good luck." I told them, turning away. "You're gonna need it."
A loud noise caught my attention as something big and heavy pushed its way through the trees, snapping and pushing them over. I quickly dashed behind a push, watching as the heavy thing- which was a truck- came into view.
It stopped, men jumping out and already walking beside it gathering. Guns in their hands, I realized at that moment that these were probably the same people who'd attacked Sasha, Abraham and myself.
"Let's end this." one of the men called.
"It's ours." the brunette girl called back. "We earned what we took."
But the others didn't care. "You're gonna return what you took. You're gonna pay for the gas it took to come out here, and for all the time these men took out. It's over. You know the rules."
"Your rules are batshit!" the brunette yelled.
"We're not going back, Wade. We're done kneeling." the guy yelled to the others as well.
Wade I guess, called out again. "Don't change the subject, asshole." he whistled, and the truck and men began to move.
I did a quick look around to see our options and caught sight of men moving in from different directions, all armed. The ones who'd taken me last night were on their feet, getting ready to move, heading right for the others.
"Come on." I stopped them. "Hey, that way." I gestured to the only way that was clear. "Come on. Go! Go!" the blonde was still weak, so I grabbed her. "Go!" I told the others.
We ran as fast as we could, but with the blonde being the way she was we weren't getting far enough. Sooner or later the others would catch up. That meant I'd be stuck, again, unable to get home. Like I said before, nothing was keeping me from getting back to Vic.
I stopped with the others, behind a bush, placing the blonde on the ground near the brunette before looking around to see what we should do next.
Knowing we were outnumbered and in danger, I found I had no choice but to hand the gun back over. So, I pulled it out. "Hey." I tapped the guy's shoulder. When he turned, I offered the gun. "Take it."
He took it before turning back around, watching as the people chasing them got closer and closer.
"Eyes open. Cover your quadrant." Wade's voice called over a walkie that was nearby. "Go to alpha channel."
Movement caught my attention as my eyes landed on a burnt walker stuck behind a rock, it's arm swaying in the air as it tried to get free.
One of the other men was getting closer to both us and the rock the walker was stuck behind. It was clear they weren't going to stop looking unless we did something, and if they caught us things were not going to end well. So, I grabbed a branch of the bush we were hiding behind, rustling the leaves to get the guy's attention.
It worked. He'd heard the leaves and turned, starting to head this way.
As he rounded the rock, the walker grabbed him easily and bit into his arm, causing the man to yell out and hit the walker's head with the butt of his gun, killing it. Though it was too late, he was bit.
"Wade, I'm bit!" he yelled, kneeling by another rock, resting his arm on it. "Wade, I'm bit!" Wade came rushing over to help the guy. "Take it off me." he told him.
"Damn it." Wade took his belt off.
"Do it. Just take it off."
Wade tired the belt around the guy's arm. "Get your watch after." he said before pulling out a machete and bringing it down on the guy's arm, cutting it clean off.
The guy screamed and cried out.
"All right, that's it." Wade called into his walkie. "Time to go home. Cam got a boo-boo."
"You sure?" someone else asked over the radio.
"Hell, yeah." Wade answered. "He only wanted to take this so far. And he only wants ass that's willing, you know?" he finished before putting the walkie away and grabbing the watched off the severed arm. "Come on, Cam, let's walk it off." he helped the other guy to his feet and walked them both off.
After a moment, once they were gone, the guy next to me turned. "We thought you were with them." eh shook his head. "We knock you over the head, tie you up, threaten to kill you. Why the hell did you come back?"
I grunted, shrugging. "Maybe I'm stupid, too."
...
"So, you know 'em, so you thought I was one of them?" I asked as we walked through the burnt forest still.
"Where we were, we were there since the beginning. We still didn't know everyone." the guy answered. "Back when we first threw in with them, it was as good a place as any. And as things got harder, people got harder. Human nature kicked in and it became a truly unique kind of shit show."
"People will trade anything for safety, for knowing they they're safe." the brunette added.
"Everything." the guy nodded. "So, they got nothing left except just... Existing."
"There ain't nobody safe anymore." I noted.
I knew that better than anyone considering the amount of times I'd tried keeping Vic and my group safe. But no matter how hard I tried, they always got hurt. Always.
I sighed. "Can't promise people that anyhow."
"You could promise the people who want to hear it." the guy shrugged.
Suddenly the blonde ran off.
"Hey, Tina! Hold up!" the guy called before we all followed her.
She stopped in front of a burnt down greenhouse, looking down at the two bodies encased by melted glass. "Carla and Delly. That's them." she stepped forward.
"Me and Tina used to babysit them when they were kids." the brunette explained. "Everyone said that they went out north when it all started. We didn't know."she explained as we watched Tina- the blonde- pull some flower weeds from the ground and move to crouch in-between the bodies.
"I did this." the guy said.
The brunette shook her head. "We did this."
Tina laid the flower over one of the body's chest.
She screamed as the body moved inside the encasing. It was a walker, growling at her. She got to her feet to move but tripped, landing on the other body. Both body casings shattered as the walkers grabbed her. Before any of us could move or react the walker's bit into her.
It had all happened so fast I couldn't believe it. I rushed forward, killing both walkers and the guy held the brunette back, who was crying at the sight in front of her.
When the walkers were dead the brunette rushed forward, getting to her knees and pulling Tina to her as they cried. The walkers must have punctured an artery, or maybe the glass had, because before long Tina was dead.
"I'm sorry!" the brunette cried. "I'm so sorry, baby! We had to try. We had to try. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry."
Watching the brunette, I felt my heart twist. From this angle, where I stood, she almost looked like Vic holding and older Aly...
"Here." I stepped forward. "I got her."
The guy nodded, moving to the brunette, lifting her away. "Thank you." he told me before pulling her away, letting me take care of Tina.
...
Digging some holes for the bodies, I watched the guy next to me, before turning to the brunette who was clearly and understandably in shock. These people weren't bad people. They were desperate and unstable, but they weren't bad...
I turned to the guy. "Hey. How many walkers you killed?" when he looked up at me I shrugged. "Just answer the question."
"A lot. A couple dozen at least."
"How many people you killed?"
"None." he answered, going back to digging.
"Why?"
"Why haven't I killed anybody? Because if I did, there'd be no going back. there's no going back to how things were."
"I'm from a place where people are still like they were. More or less, better or worse." I told him.
He didn't say anything, but he knew what I was saying. I was inviting them back. I was offering a roof over their head and food in their stomachs. I was offering- not promising- somewhere safe. He just turned to the brunette for a moment before turning back to his hole, continuing to dig.
...
"I can walk it from here, till we meet up with my friends." I told them as I lifted the bush off my bike. They agreed to come back with me. "They got a car, you can ride with them."
"How many friends did you say there were?" the guy asked.
"I didn't." I answered. "There's two of them."
"Where are they?"
"We're gonna find out." I told him as I pushed my bike.
"How do you know they even got away? That they didn't get taken?" he was clearly not convinced.
"I don't." I called over my shoulder.
The sound of a gun cocking had me stop.
"Oh, damn it." I dropped my bike and turned, reaching to pull my crossbow over my shoulder.
Before I could, the guy aimed his gun at me. "I'm sorry." he sighed. "Give her the crossbow."
"You gonna go back?" I started, not doing what he said. "You'll be safe?"
"Shut up!"
Ignoring him I went on. "Ain't nowhere safe no more."
"Give her the crossbow." he repeated.
"You'll kneel?" he shot the tree behind me, my words pissing him off. I barely flinched, but it was enough to get me moving. I couldn't die out here. I wouldn't.
Pulling my crossbow off my shoulder, keeping my eyes on him, I handed it over to the girl. Once she had it over her shoulder she took the gun from the guy before he lifted the bike, both climbing on, gun still aimed at me.
Reaching into the bag, the girl pulled out some bandages. "Patch yourself up." she tossed them towards me. "We're sorry."
"You're gonna be." I told her, not moving from the spot, watching as they then rode off.
Once they were gone I lifted the bandages of the ground and went to put them in my pocket. I felt the wooden soldier sitting there. Pulling it out I looked down at it, shaking my head. I should've killed them.
...
I made it back to the little dirt road I'd first rode on in the forest. The walker with the helmet on was still there, still stuck, still alive. Moving to leave, I caught sight of a sign on the ground, dirt covering it. Crouching down and reaching forward, I brushed the dirt away, seeing that it was a sign for the fuel company I'd been at with the others earlier. Getting back to my feet I looked around, wondering...
Some bushed were up ahead, and by the looks of things, there was something behind it. Moving forward I pulled the bushes away, revealing a fuel truck. I walked to the driver's door, opening it up and killing the walker inside with my knife- that the others had thankfully left- before pulling the walker out and climbing in.
It was time to find the others.
...
Sasha and Abraham- who was dressed in a military suit- had been holed up in the small town we'd been attacked in They'd left a trail for me, and stayed, hoping I'd come back. When I did the three of us piled into the truck and headed for home. All of us couldn't wait to finally get back, and figure out what the hell had happened while we were gone.
Driving along the road, I pulled out the walkie. "Rick, you copy? Anybody?" I went to put the walkie down, but the sound of muffled voices caught our attention. "Say it again."
"Help."
Bamby
