A/N: Hello everyone! In this chappie we finally get to the prison, so I hope I re-wrote it well. This one was a bitch to redo. It ended up well, though!
We descended into the forest green once more. Mom's anxiety didn't cease, however. I thought that mine started up again. The familiarity of the trees reminded me that I've done this before. That I walked through the woods for two years, living off of nothing but the food in my pack and the weapons in my hands. My bow had sadly been left behind at Woodbury, but I wasn't that upset. I found one before, and I was sure that I'd find another one soon.
The rustling behind us brought me out of my thought. Moms already wound up demeanor tightened some more.
Mom grabbed something out her pack and handed it to me. My knife.
"Grabbed it when I got the katana." She explained. I nodded and dropped my bags. My hand grasped the hilt, and I sighed at the familiarity of the weapon. The rustling in the trees got louder, and mom grabbed her katana. A walker shuffled their way over, moaning loudly. Mom easily decapitated it.
Instead of just leaving the body, she used the katana to cut it up into tiny pieces. Little mutilated mounds of undead flesh and organs spelled out, "Go back."
"I know they're following us." She said as she arranged the message. "Trust me, please."
"Well," I gulped as I looked to her hands, covered in blood and chunks of flesh. "I can't say you're wrong."
She told me to go into the trees and hide, so that's what I did after our packs were safely hidden. I'm not the best tree climber, but after the third or fourth time I made it up. She went into one across from mine easily. Show off. And we waited.
And waited.
And waited some more.
Then the Woodbury-ers showed up. Merle and some others that I didn't know. The smallest of them, whom I assumed was a recruit, went pale once he read the message in gore.
"Heh, look at this. They sent us a biter-gram, y'all!" Merle laughed.
"I don't believe this is happening." The recruit said, and looked away in disgust.
Merle turned to him, almost disgusted at the man's queasiness. He grabbed the kids shirt. "Hey! Knock it off. The hell's wrong wit'chyou? Now, the Governor chose you 'cause he thought you were ready. I want you to succeed, I do, but if you keep announcing to the world that you're pissin' your pants, I'm gonna have to smash your teeth in."
Once the kid nodded, Merle let go of his shirt and gave him a firm pat on the shoulder. "Now, how do you say your last name?"
"Gar-Gargulio." The obviously terrified recruit stuttered.
"Well, I'm gonna keep calling you Neil."
I looked over to mom, waiting for her signal. I was meant to be the distraction, and she would jump out and surprise them. Once I saw her nod, I grabbed the edge of a branch and gave it a strong shake. In half a second they yanked out their weapons and looked in my direction.
"What's the deal, Michonne?" Merle yelled in my direction. I scooted over on my branch, shaking the leaves a little as I did.
"Hmm? You gonna leap outta the woods, one against four? All of us armed to the teeth, and you, with just your little pig-sticker?" They kept looking around. I smirked; mom was right to set me up for a distraction. They were so lost in their bloodlust for her that they forgot about me. That I can fight. That gave us the upper advantage.
Mom jumped from the tree and ran through the foliage, slicing off one of the men's' head. She swiftly turned and stabbed another through the stomach. Merle, still looking at my direction, turned to see the decapitated body drop to the ground, and in a haste shot his gun at mom. He only managed to shoot the body that was still stuck on her katana. She quickly dropped the body and ran away, and Merle kept shooting.
I slid down the trees trunk as I watched her run. I didn't see if she was actually hit or not, and my heart rate sped up times ten.
"Where you at, Alyssa?! Come on, you don't really wanna stay with Michonne, huh? She just killed two innocent men!" Merle shouted into the woods. He shot the gun in moms direction again and ran after her. I can't believe I actually trusted this guy! He seemed like a nice person, if you didn't mind the cockiness and arrogance, back at Woodbury. If he was nice and turned out like this, what about the Governor?
I edged my way over to the scene, trying to be as quiet as possible, when a pair of hands grabbed me and lifted me in the air.
"C'mon, kid. The Governor wants you alive." The recruit, Neil, said. I thrashed in his arms, but he pinned me down.
"Mom!" I screamed, desperate. "Mom! MOM!"
I grabbed one of his arms and tugged futilely at it, hoping that it would loosen. Every time I twisted or tugged, he would just tighten his arms around me. I couldn't move freely and I was still screaming out. I felt useless. But then I remembered the knife in my sheath.
I couldn't grab it while I was still stuck, so in a last ditch effort I twisted my head over, looking at Neil's bicep near my face. And I bit it.
"Arghh!" Neil cried out, and I grinned wickedly. The arm loosened around me, giving me more room to wriggle. I still couldn't get out so I bit it again, this time drawing blood. He screamed again and released me from his grasp. I dropped to the floor on my feet.
I grabbed my knife from my hip and twisted to him, bringing the blade down on his face. I repeated it, over and over, until his face was distorted beyond recognition. I finally stopped, my hands covered in blood. His blood. There were splatters of it on my face, I could feel it. Warm and sticky against my light skin. I looked around, trying to find where mom and Merle ran off to. I passed the bodies that mom killed, not giving them a thought, and ran in the direction they went.
"Are we having fun yet?!" Merle's voice shouted, too close to me for comfort. I ran into the trees and climbed another one, high enough that I could see far and be hidden at the same time. I saw him in a clearing up ahead, yet no mom in sight. He ran back to the bodies, and I heard him scream when he found Neil. I couldn't help but smirk at the sound. Don't underestimate us.
Once Merle was out of my sight, I slowly and cautiously hopped down the tree. There were walkers trudging their way in the area, most likely coming from the sound of Merle's gun.
Where did mom go? I thought. I didn't see her when I was at the top of the tree, nor when I got down. I walked to the clearing where Merle was and noticed droplets of blood over the grass.
"Oh, no." I gasped, covering my mouth with my bloody, filthy hand. Was she hit?
I head rustling behind me, and I held up my knife in defense. To my relief, mom walked through the bushes.
"Jesus Christ, mom! You scared the shit outta me." I ran to her and hugged her tightly, my breath a bit shaky. She grunted in pain when my arms went around her.
"What's wrong?" I asked, looking at her figure. A splotch of red grew on the back of her thigh.
"Son of a bitch shot me." She grunted, her hand going to the wound. "We can't stay here, he and his buddy'll be comin' to get us."
"It'll be just Merle." I told her, and bit my lip. After my initial adrenaline high, I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach, like a rock plummeting in my gut. I killed someone.
"Why?" Mom asked me, an eyebrow raised, but a soft ease in her voice.
"I... I killed Neil." I said, my voice shaking. "He tried to kidnap me and take me back and I-killed-him."
She gave me a small nod. "It's not like killing walkers."
"No." I hung my head down. "It isn't."
"But you had to. It was self-defense."
"It was either that or the Governor." I nodded. She went to a large tree and went to the ground, digging with her hands. Sophia's bag was the first to be pulled up. I tossed it on my shoulder, but first patted the dirt off of the material.
"Come on." Once we had all of our bags she grabbed my hand and held it tightly. "Let's get going."
We trekked together through the forest, listening for anything that could give us trouble. We weren't worried about the walkers, but anything alive would disturb us.
Mom and I noticed Merle walking, alone and pissed off. We slowed down our steps, and we let go of each other's hands. The bags that we had were dropped down our arms, hidden easily. She quietly unsheathed her katana and crept her way towards him, hidden in the foliage. He stopped in his tracks, listening. And she ran out, taking the opportunity. He heard her first, and ran at the last moment, saving himself from being impaled. He unarmed her and the katana flew to the side. He tripped her down to the dirt, but she easily kicked him in the groin. He bent down, holding his... aching area, and mom kicked him in the face. He doubled over, landing on top of her, but she easily pushed him off. The noises they made gained the attention of walkers nearby, and the undead shuffled their way through.
"Dammit." I muttered under my breath, and yanked my knife from its sheath. I had to help mom, whether she liked it or not.
I ran into the clearing, stabbing a walker as I ran past it. The ones near me got the blade in their face as I pushed through the clearing. I got to mom, panting a bit. The last walker above her was gutted by her katana, and the intestines fell out of its undead body, right onto her. I gagged at the smell.
She got up, quickly getting over the fact that she was completely covered in walker guts, and we left Merle in the clearing. My heart was pumping at a thousand beats per minute as we raced back to our bags. The second the straps were in our hands our paces sped up and we just ran. No idea of where we were going, not sure if it was safe or not. But we kept going. Anywhere was safer than there.
Once deemed safe enough, mom and I stopped to catch our breath. We made it to a dirt road, long and winding. The bags on moms arm dropped, but she began to readjust them. I noticed the wince as she grabbed the straps.
"No." I said.
"No?" She asked.
"No, you are not carrying those bags. They're heavy, and I don't need you carrying any more weight than your own." I held out my hand to her, not taking no for an answer. "Give 'em here."
Mom looked at me for a moment, contemplating. I raised my eyebrows at her, giving her the, "what's taking you so long?" look. She sighed in defeat and put the straps in my hand.
I grabbed them and went to put them on my shoulders when I noticed a small group of walkers on the road. I sighed loudly and set the bags down again. Can't fight walkers with carry-ons. I took my knife and stabbed one in the head, and mom decapitated one in a clean strike. As I set up to kill another one, I noticed that the undead were shuffling towards me only, as if mom wasn't even there. I stabbed another, but the perturbed look rested on my face. Not one went after her.
As we finished the rest of them, I asked. "Why the hell didn't they go after you?"
She shrugged. "I guess it's my new perfume. I smell like them." She looked to the pile of walkers on the ground, then to me.
My eyes widened. "No! Absolutely not! Are you serious, mom?!"
She took her katana and pulled the blade through the stomach of one. "If it helps, then yes. This will help us go dark from them. That way, we can find something to help us. Someone, maybe."
I groaned, disgusted, and walked over to her and the walker. She stuck her hands into the opening and wrinkled her nose in disgust. Her hands were covered in the guts, and she rubbed them onto my back. Then my front side and over the top of my shoulders.
I went to the body and, gagging, I grabbed the flesh. "Yours needs to get updated, too."
I smeared the chunks of flesh on her back, wrinkling my nose in absolute disgust. Then my hands went to her middle and over her neck. I finished and shook my arms as if to get rid of the filth. "Ewww."
"We're safe." She shrugged. "That's what matters."
"I'll keep that in mind when I hurl." I made a, "Blegh," sound and grabbed the bags again. I went over to mom and let her lean on me as we started to walk on. Her arm went around my shoulder, and mine went to her waist.
The old dirt road lead to a main one, beautifully paved and a solid black. I was surprised to see that such a bold colour stayed on the ground for over two years. Huh. We were making our way passed an abandoned building when we heard a car making its way down the road.
"Shit." I muttered, and began to pull mom over to old, broken down cars. We ducked behind one and watched the vehicle pull up into the parking lot. I heard mom hiss in pain beside me as we bent down. I muttered a quiet, "Sorry!" to her.
Two people got out of the car. One was a woman, with short brown hair and brown eyes. She had a cowgirl look about her. The other was an Asian man, with dark brown hair and brown eyes.
"What do we do mom?" I whispered to her.
She put a finger to her lips. "Shh, we don't know these people. Let's just watch them and see what they do." I complied and focused on them.
"Clear outside." The woman said in a very southern accent.
"All right, let's take a look." The man answered. I saw the two of them kiss before the man went to work on the chains on the door.
"Aww!" I said quietly, and mom scowled at me. "Oh, come on, that was cute!"
The man broke the chains and a flock of birds flew out the open doors, startling them. As the initial shock left, the guy went inside with his flashlight.
"Glenn, get that duck." The woman pointed her flashlight in the store. I mentally noted that his name was Glenn.
"What?" He asked.
"Get that duck." She repeated, smiling.
Glenn laughed. "Are you serious?"
"Yeah. A kid growing up in a prison could use some toys." Mom and I looked at each other. A prison meant safety. And safety meant medical help for moms leg.
"We just hit the medical formula jackpot!" Glenn announced to her. He walked over to her with a two shopping baskets full of supplies.
"Thank god." The girl replied.
"I also got beans, batteries, cocktail wieners, many mustards." Glenn counted off. "It's a straight-shot back to the prison from here. Probably make it in time for dinner."
"I like the quiet." The girl replied as he set a basket into the back of their vehicle. "Back there, back home, you can always hear them outside the fence no matter where you are."
"And where is it y'all good people are callin' home?!" Merle's voice shouted, pointing a gun at Glenn and his girlfriend.
"Shit!" I whispered.
Glenn and the woman pointed their guns back at Merle.
A look of confusion passed Glenn's face. "Merle?!"
Merle laughed and set his gun down. "Wow!" He exclaimed, and walked towards Glenn, his hands in the air.
"Hey! Back the hell up!" The woman shouted, aiming the gun at Merle's face.
"Okay, okay, honey." He looked back to Glenn with a wide smile. "Jesus!"
"You made it." Glenn said flatly.
"Can you tell me, is my brother alive?" In that one second, Merle truly looked worried. The question was earnest and his affection genuine. Goddamn, this bastard needs to stop.
"Yeah." Glenn answered.
Merle smiled wickedly and nodded. "Hey, you take me to him and I'll call it even on everything that happened up there in Atlanta. No hard feelings."
Glenn didn't look convinced. Instead, he glanced at the amputated hand. "You like it? Well, I found myself a medical supply warehouse. Fixed it up myself. Pretty cool, huh?"
"We'll tell Daryl you're out here and he'll come meet you." Glenn stated, sounding firm.
Merle walked closer to Glenn. "Hold on. Just hold up."
"Woah. Woah." Glenn stressed, trying to stop Merle from moving any closer.
Hold up here, hold up. The fact that we found each other is a miracle. Come on, you can trust me."
"You trust us." Glenn stated. "You stay here."
They all stared at each other with heavy breaths, then chaos broke. Merle took a concealed gun from his jeans waistband. He fired it, attempting to hit Glenn, but only managed to shatter the glass from the car. The two jumped out of the way on separate sides of the car, and Merle lunged to the girls' side. He grabbed her and placed his knife to her throat and set the barrel of the gun against her head. Glenn ran over to their side, and Merle grinned.
"Hey, buddy. Hold up." Merle pressed the edge deeper on her skin.
"Let go of her. Let go of her!" Glenn shouted, pointing his gun to the redneck.
"Put that gun in the car right now." Merle threatened. His grip on the girl tightened. "Put it in the car, son!"
Glenn complied, albeit angrily, and tossed it through the nonexistent back window.
"There ya go. Now we're gonna go for a little drive." Merle said through gritted teeth.
"We're not going back to our camp." Glenn shook his head, his voice caught in his throat.
"No, we're goin' somewhere else. Get in the car, Glenn! You're driving!"
Glenn walked over to the drivers seat and hopped in, shutting the door forcefully.
"Get up!" Merle shouted to the woman. They both got into the car and the three of them left.
Once the car was out of sight, mom and I stood from our hiding place. I went to the gun that Merle dropped and picked it up, checking the ammo.
"I can't believe I trusted that bastard." I groaned to mom, who picked up the discarded shopping basket full of formula.
"It's not your fault. He fooled all of us." Mom answered.
"Not you." I retorted, setting the gun in my waistband.
"It was the Governor I didn't trust." I walked over to mom and grabbed the basket from her and made my way inside the store. The pharmacy section was nearly completely raised, so I couldn't find anything of use for moms leg. A measly pack of Band-Aids was thrown into the basket.
Those people obviously had a kid, so out of spite I looked at the toy section and grabbed a stuffed pink bunny. Just 'cause I could.
I walked out of the store and handed the basket to mom. "Where to? We're looking for that prison, right?"
She looked into the basket. "A bunny, Liz? Really?"
I looked away, embarrassed. "They have a kid, don't they? Kids like bunnies. Are we going to find the prison or not?"
"There's only one prison I know of near here, so their group has to be there." Mom answered, still chuckling at the bunny.
"So let's go." I told her. She held the basket as I grabbed the bags from the abandoned car. Her arm wrapped around my shoulders again as we began our trek to the prison.
It came into view after about an hour of walking. This large, fenced in mound of concrete that was crumbling on one side. It was surrounded by walkers, clinging to the chain-link. I could see people coming from a door to the left, one holding a baby swaddled in a pink blanket. It was definitely a sight to see.
Mom and I made our way to the fence and each of us grabbed the metal with a hand. The undead around us didn't take notice. We were just like them for all they knew. Though it was helpful, I couldn't help but shiver.
I looked to the people in the courtyard, and one of them took notice of us. He handed the baby to a kid who looked about my age, and walked through the main yard. He made his way up to his side of the fence. He squinted, as if not believing we were there. He just stood there, looking at us in disbelief.
A/N: By the way, I also have a Tumblr! I do some one-shots of there as well, if you'd like to check 'em out. My blog is Ravenclawwithanimpalafrom221. (I don't know WHAT I was thinking of when making that name lol.)