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Chapter Nine

Peril

The chamber was empty. The bullets stripped from her gun and, on closer inspection, the bag given to her was filled with nothing but coins. She cursed under her breath and beat her hands against the steering wheel. Her knife, however, was the only weapon they had given to her. Not only was her gun empty of bullets and ammunition stolen, the vehicle she had been given only had enough gas to drive fifteen minutes down the road. She was in danger, and knowing what Philip - or the Governor - could be capable, she needed to move fast to get as far away from Woodbury as she was able to.

Knowing him he'd be after her, or have one of his men to follow her and dispose of her. There was no way he would have let her go that easily if he knew what she was capable of doing or had hidden intentions. The Governor was not a man who just let you leave and not do anything about it. She glanced in the rear view mirror, and thought for a moment. The road behind her was empty. The sky was becoming darker, the hours of daylight running out before she realised. It had been a long day, and she wasn't any closer to Washington. It had been a strange one and she furrowed her brow in confusion and frustration: Philip, or the Governor, had made her rethink about what was important about the world now. She'd seen the power that Philip exuded. The whole town fawned over him, respected him, and believe him when he told them that they were safe, protected and out of harms way. But something hung heavy in the air, and it wasn't the smell of burning bodies.

Michonne had agreed with her, which despite never meeting before, had sent a chill down Anna's spine. A woman she had no recollection of meeting, ever talking to or being introduced to, had seen the look on her face and identified the mistrust Anna had in him. And it was written all over Michonne's face. He had lied about her being in a wreckage, portraying a man who would do anything for another human being, when in fact, he was a liar and deceived those people who laid their trust in him.

She exited the vehicle, and pulled her bag out with her. Her eyes remained on the road she had just drove down before her vehicle spluttered to its death. She opened her bag, and pulled out her journal. She quickly scribbled in a small note on the current date and wrote: Met a man who calls himself The Governor. The type of guy who would stab you in the back whilst laughing in your face. Has a town called Woodbury, doesn't feel right. Smell of burning bodies fill the air; humans or the dead? He lies; he told me that he found me in a wreckage with his men, when in fact he got one of his men, a man called Merle, to knock me out. I don't trust him.

She quickly threw the journal back in her bag, took out the map, slipped it back on and made for the woods. As her feet tread on the wood floor, she remembered one of her combat missions where she, and other soldiers, were blindfolded and driven to the middle of the woodland, in the middle of nowhere. All were placed in different areas and had to get back to the base before anyone else. They had nothing with them except for the clothes on their back. There were backpacks allocated around the woods that had a map, binoculars, a hunting knife, rope, and a packet of food to last them a week. She'd spent nights staring at the stars whilst tied to a tree to prevent her from falling out, and days staring at the blinding sun as she tracked and tried to make her way out of the woods. She'd gotten to a road, and spent the whole day following the tracks of an injured animal until she came across its dying body. It was a young deer, and on closer inspection, looked as if its leg had been hit by a speeding vehicle. The leg was ripped out of its joint and she did the only humane thing she could think of and ended its suffering. Once the deer was put out of its misery, she wiped her knife on her trousers and set out to find her way back.

She had arrived back first, seven days later, with her colleagues arriving back a day later. It had been a lucky find when she had come across the deer, as the deer tracks had led her onto the right path.

She glanced down at the map and saw that across from the woods, about three miles away, was a road that led to the road that she had been on before The Governor had stumbled across her. She decided that she probably should stay in the woods for the night, knowing that if he or his men were trailing her, they wouldn't assume she had headed into the woods, and continued to track the roads. She looked upwards towards the sky and saw that it was darkening quicker than expected, and surmised that she had about an hour of daylight left before night was upon her. She had to find some sort of shelter for the night, and had less than an hour to find it.

A twig snapping behind her caused her to stop. It was a distance away from her but the fact that she had heard it, the sound travelling to her ears, meant that something or someone was not that far away. Whether it was a straggler, an animal or a person - another survivor - was unknown. The world was a quiet place now, and the silence was welcomed in a way that had never been accepted before. Any sound signalled a threat now. The silence the world had been engulfed in was welcome, and spoke volumes. If the world was silent, and quiet, then it was safe. It was a strange transition but one that Anna was used to.

As quietly as she could, Anna made her way to the large tree in the centre of the surrounding area, and hid behind it. The vastness of the trunk swallowed up her body, and she pressed her back towards the sharpness of the bark. She strained to hear the sounds that the woodland had to offer. Nothing was untoward. And it was then that she heard it.

Heavy boots making their way through the woodland. Despite the sound of the boots on being loud, she was able to distinguish that it wasn't a straggler. Stragglers dragged their decaying bodies, as if their legs were giving way, and that all their strength went onto keeping themselves upwards and moving. The sounds of branches and leaves being walked through could be heard, and she held her breath. Pulling her knife out, she waited with bated breath.

Michonne was right. No one left Woodbury.

It all happened as quick as a flash, and before Anna knew it, she had caught a glimpse of the intruder and was tackling him to the ground. They both landed with a thud, and Anna wrestled with the man. The man squirmed underneath her and whilst wrestling with her, he was able to turn himself around. Anna furrowed her brow as Merle's face came into view. She pulled the knife up and put it to his throat.

"Why are you following me?"

"Girl, ya strong," Merle said, struggling underneath her. "I'll give ya that!"

"Why are you following me?" Anna repeated.

"If ya get off me, I'll tell ya."

Anna stared at him as he continued to struggle beneath her. He was older than her, by at least twenty years but there was something about him. She couldn't put her finger on it, but he wasn't like Philip. With Philip, he offered a cold side. One that, if crossed, you'd know about it. But Merle, he wasn't always cold. He had a good side.

Anna slowly got off of him, her narrowed stare being the only thing remaining on him. He got up, and brushed himself off. He tipped his head back and laughed. Anna raised an eyebrow. Her eyes flirted with the rifle laid upon the ground.

"Ya had me good there, girl."

"Don't call me girl."

Merle glanced at her and smirked. "Alrigh' sweetheart."

"Don't call me sweetheart, either."

"Jeez," Merle began. "Ya hard to please, ain't ya?"

"Not really," Anna said. "Just don't like assholes calling me names."

Merle chuckled, but Anna didn't return it. The friendly banter between them was never going to happen, and Merle knew that if he pushed it, he'd end up going back to Woodbury with a knife in his eye.

"You here to kill me?" Anna asked, cutting straight to the point. Merle was slightly taken aback at her smartness. The Governor had messed with the wrong one, he thought.

"Ya smart," Merle said. "And ya'd be correct."

"Are you like him?" Anna asked, and narrowed her eyes at him as if trying to figure out the answer for herself.

Merle shook his head, but gave no answer.

"I thought so. You don't seem to be the type of person to kill without a reason, unlike so many people in this world now. Why do you follow everything that he tells you to do? Scared?"

"I ain't scared of no one, girl."

"Looks it," Anna said, smirking. "You gonna kill me?"

"No."

"Disobeying an order from your boss? That's going to cost you, big time."

Merle shrugged. "Don't have to tell him that I let ya go. Can say that I killed ya, watched as the life left ya. As long as ya stay away from Woodbury, ya just a memory to us all."

"How lovely," Anna said. "Really, I'm touched."

"Ya should be. He's out to get ya. He'll have my balls on the chopping board if he knew I let ya go," Merle joked, despite him knowing that if The Governor ever found out that he hadn't disposed of Anna the way he wanted him to, he'd be in deep trouble. "But, I don't know why he wants ya dead. Ya eyes give so much away, girl."

Anna let the 'girl' name go, but she froze at his comment. It was true; a person could be the toughest person in the world, but one thing that would give them away would be their eyes. The pain, the suffering, the love for people and fear were all evident in their eyes. Eyes were the windows to the soul, no doubt about it.

"Ya've seen things we ain't seen," Merle continued. "Ya were in the army?"

"Still am," Anna said, quietly.

Merle nodded, and extended his arm out to her. "It's a pleasure. I was in the army, too."

She hesitated for a moment but then extended her arm out, and shook his hand. "If the circumstances were different then I'd hug you."

"Ha!" Merle chuckled. "Not many women could resist these charms. I miss them banging down my do-"

But before Merle could finish his sentence, a loud scream pierced through the surrounding woods like a crack of lightening. And the both of them set off at a speed towards the sound.