My arm feels so good I think Dale performed a miracle. Sure it had stitches but it wasn't even sore anymore. I could even use my arm again which made everything so much easier.
We were walking down a street; heading towards a small mall. This time there was no splitting up into teams, except Dale and the kids stayed in with the vehicles. I was in front with Daryl and Rick. Shane and Rick were taking up the back end of the group.
I looked around and noted that it seemed too quiet for some reason. Against my gut feeling we ran to the doors. Rick smashed them in and we walked through them. I was extra careful this time to not hurt my arm again.
Onc einside we stayed together for the most part. Lori and Carol ventured off to a foos stall. The rest of us went into seperate stores but still something didn't feel right. Why was there no zombies here? I have never seen a building of this size just be deserted. I didn't let it bother me as I walked into a clothing store.
"I'm sorry about before." Shane nearly scared the shit right out of me. I didn't even know he came in here with me because we weren't exactly on good terms. "It''s okay. We're all a little snappy." I let my shotgun swing from my shoulder as I ran my hand over all the pretty outfits. I could never afford anything like this.
I picked up a shirt that resembles a dress in style, some shorts and boots. Having at least new clothes felt so great against my skin. I joined Shane back by the entrance to the store. I saw Lori and Carol come back carrying food and stuff. "I only have two rounds." Shane admitted seemingly defeated.
In that instance I saw my chance to get on Shane's possible good side. "I promise to have your back in case you ever need to use those two rounds." I held out my hand and he shook it with a smile. "Thank you." He tipped his hat to me and I just had to laugh.
"Did you hear that?" I pointed my gun towards the other end of the mall. There was a crashing noise and I know no one went that far off from us. "Yeah. Wanna go check it out?" I just eagerly followed Shane through the dim lights. "If something happens to me, I need you to run. Run all the way back to the cars and keep moving forward." Did Shane have some sort of death wish or something?
"I will try." When in reality I don't know if I could just leave him there to get ripped apart. In an instant Shane had me pushed against the wall, his breath hitting my face. He signaled for me to be quiet and he pulled me into another open store.
We hid behind the checkout counter and I didn't hear anything follow us in. I peeked around to see a couple Walkers walking towards the others. "Shit. They don't even know what's coming!" I said and stood when they were all past the store. "We have to get back to them." That's the smartest thing I've heard Shane say since I met him.
We went the opposite way to avoid running through the hungry zombies. We were sprinting as if we were being chased ourselves. We skidded to a stop when we saw the others run from the mall. Did they just leave us in here alone to die? No way was I going to just stay here. Shane grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the doors. One of the stragglers spotted us and the others turned to us. They had drool pouring from their mouths and they were horribly mangled. When we stumbled backwards Shane fell and cried out.
"My foot! Take my gun! Go!" He handed me his pistol with shaking hands. "Go! I can't walk! Remember your promise." His eyes said he was fearful of dying but his actions told me to leave him. "Shane! I-" but he pushed my leg and yelled for me to run while he distracted them.
I ran around the tables and heard screaming. I stopped once I reached the doors and looked back at Shane. "Chrissy," his hand was outstretched in my direction but it got ripped apart by a set of yellowing teeth. I vomited in my mouth and walked out the doors.
I didn't bother running because the zombies were too pre-occupied with my friend. I can't believe that just went down like that. I stumbled back to the caravan and collapsed in front of the RV. I threw my gun off to the side somewhere and vomited. I vomited because that's the first time I ever witnessed someone getting eaten, that close up. And it was terrible.
"Where's Shane?" Rick asked from somewhere in front of me. I held up Shane's gun and he took it from my hands. I had nothing to say to anybody because what can I say at a time like this? We had just lost a group member and one that was important to us. Daryl knelt in front of me and I grabbed onto his shirt.
He picked me up in his arms and I fell limp. I had swore that I would have his back but he told me to leave him. I could have saved him or better yet it should have been me. He leaned against the truck and I nuzzled into his neck.
Everything I tried to do to make sure everyone was safe had gone down with Shane. The look on his face when he handed me his gun and the sound of ripping flesh was all I could see and hear. It just made it ten times worse to concentrate. I pushed Daryl away and vomited into the grass again.
It was so disgusting how those things just swoop in and tear into the living. The sound of cracking bone and chomping made me dry heave at least two more times. Daryl and Carol helped me to the truck and I sat against the window. Glenn was in the middle of me and Daryl and we slowly started down the road.
Glenn's POV
Tears were pourin down C-J's face but it's understandable. I wonder if she shot Shane or not if he got attacked. She didn't have blood on her and she was wearing new clothes. It was total silence in the truck as none of us wanted to talk about what happened back there.
If only we didn't just take off without bothering to make sure Shane and Chrissy were with us. Maybe we could have saved him from turning into Walker food. Chrissy was shaking against me and hugged herself tightly. I tried to put my arm around her shoulder but she flinched away. So I just let it be.
At least four hours later we stopped again for the night. At this rate it was going to take forever to get just to the Alabama state line. I was sitting with the others around the small fire we built on the side of the road. Everyone was talking or even laughing but C-J was just sitting there. Not saying anything and just staring off into space.
"Hey, you need to eat." Daryl held up a spoonful of canned potatoes to her mouth but she moved away from it. He gave up and stuck it into his own mouth instead. "Did Shane say anything?" Rick couldn't look Chrissy in the eyes and I felt it made it worse on her. She just shrugged and walked away from the group.
No one followed but I know she was unarmed. I grabbed my trusty bat and headed after her; and no one said a word about it. I found her sitting against the tire of the RV. Fresh tears were running into her mouth when I sat next to her. "You don't have to talk to me." I offered but she didn't even smile.
"I know it probably wasn't easy on you. Did Shane ask for your help at least?" She just shook her head no. "Did he tell you to run away? Because that's just Shane's personality flaw." He always told us to just leave him if he goes down. She nodded a quick yes so I continued the questioning. "Was he trying to protect you?" She shrugged and hung her head.
"Did you shoot him? Or is he one of them now?" The thought made me get goosebumps. She nodded no and I didn't bother asking which question she was answering. "Why are you being so quiet?" She didn't move at all and I knew I asked the wrong question. "You look nice in this." I played with the sleeve of her new shirt but she didn't even look up at me.
"I remember the time our camp got attacked. We lost more than our share of friends and family members. Carol lost her husband and Sophia lost her dad. But he was a douchebag anyways. And Andrea lost her sister Amy." I was really starting to miss everyone that isn't with us.
"We found the CDC and thought they could help us. Turns out there no cure for it and the world's just given up or something. Dr. Jenner said we could stay with him when the building blows up because of no power. But we all wanted to live for as long as possible. Jacqui chose to stay and go peacefully." If you call blowing up in a matter of seconds… peaceful.
"Mississippi is our last hope." And she finally looked up at me. "Living is pointless now. There's no need to keep going through all of this. Just leave me alone." Her voice cracked a couple of times as her words set into my mind. "You have Daryl to live for. Imagine how he would feel if you weren't here." I put my arm around her but she pushed me away.
"He was fine before he found me. He'll be fine when I die." She spat and stood and stared back at the campfire. "Don't you understand anything? I don't know what I'm here for. All I do is get people hurt and I can't even save myself half the time. I can't take it anymore." She ran off into the woods.
"Daryl!" And everyone came running over to me. "Chrissy ran off into the words. I think she wants to die." Andrea got a look of understanding because she's been there before. We all got flashlights and guns and took off after her. Even Dale came with us this time. He seemed to really care for her like her cared for Andrea and Amy.
"Chrissy!" Daryl yelled out and had tears in his eyes. I've never seen him cry so much not even over Merle. "Please you can't leave me!" Daryl screamed and took off running. I think he found her trail but it just stopped. "Where could she have gone?" Rick asked.
"Okay we need to split up. I'll take Glenn and Dale. Meet back at the road in an hour." Everyone agreed with Daryl's suggestion.
It had to be the longest hour of my life. I had a strange sense of dיjא vu because it feels like just yesterday that we were looking for Sophia in the forest. A crunching noise came from somewhere behind us and we stopped mid-step.
Daryl whipped around and no one was there and nothing moved. After about a minute we headed back to the highway. I felt bad for driving her away with all my inquiring. "Help!" A scream ripped through the trees. With no hesitation we followed Daryl weaving through the think underbrush.
Chrissy was surrounded by what she liked to call Stiffs. Daryl started shooting of arrows and C-J hit the ground. I took off a couple heads easily and Dale's sniper rifle did enough damage. "What the fuck were you thinking?" Daryl was shaking her violently by the shoulders.
"I hate it! I hate my life and I'm tired of being here." Daryl picked her up over his shoulder and she didn't fight much to get away. We made it back to the highway and everyone was already there too.
Dale pulled Chrissy into the RV. Probably to have some talking time because she seemed comfortable with him.
