I stared over the ledge down to the street below next to Jacqui and Andrea. Although the walkers had spread out a little, it was still extremely crowded. It was still enough that we could smell them from the top of the building.

"How's that signal?" Morales asked T-dog.

"Like Dixon's brain," he said, eyeing Merle. "Weak."

Merle glared back at him and flipped him off.

"Keep trying," Morales urged.

"Why?" Andrea asked. "There's nothing they can do. Not a damn thing." She pushed away from the ledge of the building away from the cop.

He looked at Morales, confused. "Got some people out side the city," he explained. "There's no refugee center."

"Then she's right," he agreed. "We're on our own. We have to get our own way out."

"Good luck with that," Merle sneered. "These streets ain't safe. Ain't that right, sugar tits?" he asked, turning to Andrea. I rolled my eyes and put my attention back to trying to figure out how to get out of here.

"The streets aren't safe is an understatement," Morales said, shaking his head.

"What about under the streets? The sewers?"

Morales stared at the cop for a moment. "Glenn! Check the alley! Are there any manhole covers?"

Glenn jogged over to the other side of the building and looked up and down the alley and jogged back. "No," he said, shaking his head. "They must all be out on the streets where the geeks are."

"Maybe not," Jacqui said quickly. "This building was built in the twenties. Big buildings were built with tunnels underneath incase of flooding."

"How do you know?" Glenn asked.

"It's my job. Well, was my job. I worked in the city's zone office," she explained.

"I guess we better go look," I said, taking my guns safety off.

0000

"No," Glenn argued for the upteenth time. "Until now, I always came here by myself. In and out. Easy. The first time I bring people, everything goes to hell. If I'm going down in that hole, I'll take one person with me," he looked at the cop. "Not you. You have a gun and I've seen you shoot. I'd feel better if you were up there watching those doors," he turned his attention to Andrea and I. "You two are the only others with guns. You two go with him."

I shook my head. "No. No way. We came out here to get supplies and I'll be damned if we go back without. The building we needed to get to is the next one over, right?" Glenn nodded. "I can get over there with all the bags, grab what I can, and get out." He looked like he was about to protest, but I cut him off. "Look, I have a gun. I can protect myself. The roofs are close enough together that if I get a running start, I can jump it if I have to. I can take the alley to the door on the other building. If it's locked, I'll come back. But I won't go back to camp without being able to say we tried. We aren't going to want to come back for a while because it'll be too dangerous. We can't go any longer without the supplies."

"Alright," he sighed. "But make it fast."

I nodded as I ran back up the stairs to get to the roof. As I gathered all the bags, I ignored the stares from T-dog and Merle and made my way over to the ladder.

"Where are you going?" T-dog called after me.

"This is a supply run. We need supplies. So I'm going to go and try to get us some." I maneuvered all the bags on my back and started to make my way down the ladder before I could hear any protests. I kept my eye on the two walkers in the alley as I dropped the last few steps. I was careful to not draw their attention as I moved to the door. I twisted the handle and mentally cheered when I found it opened. I dodged inside

and pulled it closed behind me.

It was quiet. I figured that would calm my nerves, but it just made me more nervous. It kept my senses on high. Every creek and every movement of anything made me jump. I knew that if there was something in here, since it was so quiet, not only I would be able to hear it, but it would be able to hear me.

I was in what looked like a miniature Wal-Mart. The shelves had been raided quickly and cans of various things and spilled items laid across the floor. I gathered all that I could into three of the bags as I moved through the aisles, listening for movement other than my own. Each time the cans knocked together, I flinched and strained my ears to hear any movement besides myself.

I really wish I had brought someone with me.

I gathered what we needed as fast as I could but still trying to be silent. Tylenol/Ibprofen, any kind of medical supplies, canned foods, soap, pads/tampons. I stood in one of the aisles in the pharmacy area looking over the shelf thinking about what else I could grab while I was here. I was about to head back, when I heard the familiar sound of a walker close to where I was. I froze and listened.

It was in the aisle over, groaning and shuffling along slowly. And its destination was coming towards the aisle I was in. It hadn't realized I was here yet. It was simply shuffling around with no purpose. I listened for its footsteps, trying to figure out which way it was going. I swallowed my fear and slowly started to move away from it, paying even more attention to not making a noise. Yet before I could move away from it, it turned the corner and spotted me.

"Shit," I breathed. I turned and ran for the door, adjusting the now full bags on my shoulders. They had to be a good twenty or more pounds from all the canned food I had gathered. I yelped as I turned the corner to almost slam into another one. It growled and tried to grab for me, but I dodged around it, and darted for the door. I threw it open and it made an extremely loud bang against the wall, attracting the attention of the few in the alley.

I knew climbing the ladder would be hard with an extra twenty pounds, but I had no other choice. We needed this to be able to survive. This stuff would keep us from having to do another run soon. Hopefully. I hoped it was enough. There wasn't much that four bags could carry. But it was more than Glenn and his single bag and I had crammed as much as I could into the bags. I heard the growling behind me as I struggled to get far enough up the stairs that the walkers couldn't reach me. The bags were weighing me down.

"Fuck," I muttered to myself as one grabbed at my foot. I glanced down at it, and kicked it as hard as I could in the side of the head. It staggered back and I took the opportunity to scramble up ladder. I was breathing heavily as I got to the top.

"Hey!" I called over the edge. "A little help would be nice!"

I heard feet scrambling over. I looked up to see T-dog and Morales faces. I hoisted up the bags to them one at a time, locking my other arm around the ladder so I wouldn't fall from being off balance.

"You carried this all up the ladder?" Morales asked, amazed while also pulling me up.

"Yeah. There was no was I was going to be able to make two trips," I said, glancing down at the walkers at the bottom of the stairs. "Was there a way out in the tunnels?"

"No," Morales paled a little and looked like he was about to puke. "The cop had an idea to...chop up a walker, spread the mess on them and walk there. He had this idea that if we can smell like them, we can sneak passed them. He and Glenn went. They're going to that construction zone to get a cube van for us to get out."

"I bet that was gnarly," I said pursing my lips and trying to keep a mental image from forming. "Is it working?" I asked as we made our way back over to Jacqui, Andrea and Merle.

"Seems like it," he said, handing me the binoculars and pointing to them in the crowd of walkers.

"That asshole's out on the street with the handcuff keys?" Merle growled.

I handed the binoculars back to Morales and saw T-dog hold up the handcuff key to Merle. I shook my head and went to sit next to Merle. I couldn't watch them walk through those streets if they got caught. My nerves couldn't take much more stress.

"You calmed down?" I asked Merle quietly. He looked at me with a snide look. "I take that as a yes." He didn't say anything so I kept talking. "I know you've always been an asshole to Daryl through the years. And sometimes to me too. Even when you weren't on drugs. But this is out of hand Merle. The dead rising and eating all the living is not the time to get addicted to crack again."

He scoffed and looked away from me. "But even with how you're acting, Daryl loves you. Even after all the shit you and your father put him through as a kid. So I guess that means I have to kind of love you."

"You always go along with what Daryl does," he said, giving me a small glare. "Always did everything he did."

"Well it got me here, didn't it? It kept me alive. All the survival things he taught me came in handy. And I'm grateful for that. I'm grateful for him. And maybe you should be too," I said eyeing him. "Instead of acting like a total douche bag and turning everyone against you, causing them to think the same thing about him. He doesn't deserve that."

"Whatever, Rae."

I was about to say something when thunder rolled over us. The clouds were beginning to darken and the sky looked like it was about to pour. A bad feeling started to creep in my stomach as I watched the two slowly make their way through the street. T-dog was starting to flip through the channels until he found a signal.

"Hello? Hello?" Dales voice came back.

"We're trapped in the department store. The geeks are all over the place! Hundreds of them!

"T-dog, rep-" Static interrupted Dales voice. And then there was nothing.

"Fuck," he cursed and tried to flip through the channels again.

Thunder rolled again, and the clouds were getting darker. Moisture filled the air as I felt a raindrop. Then three. Then it was pouring. In a matter of moments, we were all soaking wet. I jumped up and rushed over to the ledge of the building to watch the two on the street. They had gained some distance, but not enough. They couldn't move quickly through the streets because the walkers would notice them. They were having to move just as slowly as them.

"It's a pacific cloud burst, we get them all the time." Morales said, nervously looking down at the two. "It'll pass real quick."

"But is real quick fast enough?" I asked.

No one said anything. It's exactly what everyone else was thinking. If it wasn't for the fact that we had two men down on the street trying to get us out and save us, I would have been thankful for the rain. It felt amazing after being out in the sun for hours. But now, it was just a deadly burden.

"They're being chased!" Jacqui said frantically with her hands pushing her hair back from her face.

I grabbed the binoculars and watched them jump the fence like it was nothing. The cop stood a few feet away and shot the ones that were trying to climb over. Glenn disappeared from sight for a moment. I saw Glenn again when he threw something towards the cop and they ran towards the cube van and got in. They backed up the van, and drove away.

"They're leaving us!" Andrea said quietly.

"What's going on?" Merle asked, loudly.

"The rollup doors in the back of the store, meet us there and be ready!" Glenns voice came over the CB. Everyone grabbed a bag and ran towards the door as fast as they could. I didn't budge from my spot, my eyes on Merle. Everything in my body was telling me to run. To save myself. But I couldn't leave Merle.

"T-dog!" I screamed atfter him. "Unlock the handcuffs!"

T-dog stopped, and looked back at me, Merle and then back at me. "Go!" he told me as the ran back over the roof. "I'll get him, just get the bag and go!"

I looked towards Merle and nodded. I grabbed the bag next to me and dashed down the stairs, not too far behind the others. Inside the department store, walkers were still trying to break through the second door of glass. They were riled up and there were even more than before. They were banging on the glass, trying with everything they could to get through the glass to us. We rushed through to get to the back entrance where there was a chain to pull open the rollup door. Each of us grabbed a hold of it breathing hard and still soaking wet.

"How are we supposed to know when they're here?" I asked. My nerves were shot. I was shaking, my voice was shaking, every little noise made me jump. It would be a long time before I calmed back down. And even longer before I ever volunteered to do another supply run.

The sound of a car alarm started to slowly get closer. There was a loud bang at the door and we pulled the chain as fast as we could to open the door. The cop was in the back of the van, and we threw him the bags and jumped inside.

"Don't leave me!" T-dogs voice called as he ran into the garage. He threw his bags inside and jumped in.

"Where's Merle?" I asked frantically when he got in the truck. The cop sped away from the building and Morales closed the door to the back of the truck. "Where's Merle?" I asked again, grabbing T-dog by the shirt. "Where is he?"

"I dropped the key," he said, his eyes not meeting mine.

I stared up at him dumbfounded. "You couldn't pick it up?"

"I dropped it down a drain."

I pushed away from him and stood away from everyone, my hands found themselves tangled in my still soaking hair. I stared at T-dog with my lips pursed and tears prickling my eyes. "You left him on the roof," I said slowly.

"I chained the door," he told me. "With a pad lock. The geek's can't get to him."

"Oh yeah? And what the fuck am I supposed to tell Daryl? Hm? Any bright fucking ideas? Cause I sure as hell don't know!" I yelled at him, the tears still in my eyes. Daryl asked me to look after his brother. He trusted me to do it. And now he was still handcuffed to the top of a building as we drove back to safety. And the only thing protecting Merle was a metal door, a chain and a pad lock. But that just protected him from the Walkers. He was still out in the sun, with no water and no food.

"Larae, I'm sorry," he said still not looking at me.

I slid my back down the back of the van and rested my head in my hands. No one said anything the rest of the way back.


Apologies to those who have already read chapter eight and having to go back and read this. I totally uploaded the wrong chapter and didn't catch it until the morning after I published it. I am so sorry haha. I'll go ahead and upload the next one in a few days because now that some have read it, I'm gong to tweak it a little. Sorry. My mistake.