Chapter 11
Roslyn walked quietly around the front of the train, watching everyone go about their business. She had been scanning the nearby brush for any sign of walkers and, luckily, found none. Lee was talking with every individual member of their slowly expanding group, some chatting others talking about the train or keeping watch. Everyone had a job to do, but most just wanted some peace, even for a moment. Roslyn sighed, leaning against the side of the train and running her fingers through her hair. She wanted something, anything, to occupy her time with. Something useful. That's when she spotted the train station only a couple yards from the train. 'Hello, possible supplies!' She thought, smiling as she looked around to see if anyone was watching her before sneaking off towards the station. The first thing that really caught her attention was the paint on the roof.
"Survivors inside…not anymore, I guess. Not this far in the apocalypse." She grumbled. She looked around in silence, hand hovering over her pistol as she cautiously inspected the place. 'So far, pretty safe…there's bound to be walkers inside.' Roslyn's eyes lit up somewhat when she found a door inside, only for her to find it locked.
"Should have seen that coming." Roslyn sighed, beginning to search for any other way inside. Unfortunately, every other possible entrance was boarded up, most likely to make sure nothing got in.
"Great." Roslyn muttered sarcastically. She froze when she heard footsteps, instinctively backing up against the wall with her gun in hand. 'Just fan-freaking-tastic.' When whoever– or whatever– it was turned the corner, Roslyn aimed. She let her arms drop to her sides with a sigh of relief when she realized it was Clementine.
"What are you doing here, Clem? Shouldn't you be back at the train with Lee and the others?" Roslyn asked, kneeling down to Clementine's height.
"Yeah, but I noticed you come over here. Lee and I were gonna check out the station and look for you." Clementine answered, fiddling with the large blue sleeves of her (Roslyn's) sweatshirt.
"Speaking of which," Lee rounded the corner, arms crossed over his chest, "what're you doing here? I've been telling you multiple times to stay put."
"Well, I wanted to do something useful, so I saw the station and decided to do just that." Roslyn replied with a nervous smile.
"Could've at least told someone. No one knew where you disappeared to and there are walkers in these woods."
"I'm sorry, but I don't want to just sit around and wait for you to do something."
"Fine. So, did you find anything?"
"Not yet. Probably something inside, but the door's locked."
"What about the window above the door?" Clementine suggested, pointing up at it.
"Good thinking Clem, but you're the only one who can fit up there." Roslyn stated, the thought of walkers inside terrifying her. The thought of making Clementine go inside first made it worse.
"It's fine, Roslyn. I'll just lift her up and she'll peek inside, alright?" Lee said, trying to ease her worry. Roslyn nodded absentmindedly as Lee lifted the child onto his shoulders and she peered inside through the window.
"See anything?" Roslyn asked.
"Lots of crates and stuff."
"Maybe we can find a key or figure out a way to knock this door down." Lee said.
"Kenny would probably have me or Roslyn pick the lock, which isn't much of a bad idea now–"
"I think I opened it!" Clementine interrupted, surprising Roslyn and Lee.
"For real?"
"I think so." Lee set Clementine down and tested the door. It swung open easily and they smiled down at Clementine.
"Good job, Clem." Roslyn said, ruffling Clementine's hair as they followed Lee inside. It was dark, the three of them barely even able to see anything in front of them until Lee propped open the door.
"Really? Your only melee weapon and that's what you use it for?" Roslyn asked.
"There's nothing to use it on anyway. We should be fine for now." Lee replied. Roslyn shook her head before letting her eyes settle on a blowtorch inside a cell. Walking over, she began looking around desperately for the keys to the door. 'Great, they're in the cell for whatever reason! This day just keeps getting better and better…'
"Clem, think you can fit through the gap up here?" Roslyn inquired, gesturing to the gap above the cell.
"Yep!" Clementine said, trotting over to Roslyn, who picked her up on her shoulders quickly. Scooting through the gap, Clementine successfully made it into the cell.
"Good job, Clem! I'm gonna need you to grab the keys behind your head, 'kay?" Clementine nodded, but her eyes widened with fear as she looked behind Roslyn and Lee.
"Behind you!" Roslyn turned to see a walker groaning as it stumbled towards her and Lee.
"Lee!" Roslyn shouted, pushing Lee aside as another walker tried to grab him. His gun slipped from his hands and he was forced towards the door as Roslyn held back the walker attacking her, struggling to aim her own gun at its head. With a growl, she ripped her arm free from its grasp and sent a bullet clean through its skull just as Lee finished off the other. Looking over to Clementine, Roslyn's hardened gaze softened at the little girl shaking with Lee's gun in her hands.
"It's alright. They're all gone now." Roslyn mumbled gently as Clementine looked down at the floor. A growl was heard and Lee hurried to Roslyn's side at the cell door as they noticed the walker inside it.
"Keys, NOW!" He yelled, Clementine grabbing the keys from their hook and hurriedly placing them in Lee's hands as the walker drew closer and closer to her. The moment he unlocked and swung open the door, Clementine rushed into his arms and Roslyn fired off one shot. The walker fell with a thud, Roslyn's heart thumping in her chest as she stared at it.
"Well…we're alive, thank goodness…still could've gone better." Roslyn said meekly, offering up a weak grin.
"No kidding." Lee said, watching as Roslyn entered the cell and grabbed the blowtorch.
"What did we learn today?" Lee asked as Roslyn exited and stood beside Clementine, both girls looking at the floor.
"That I'm an idiot who should think before action." Roslyn answered.
"And that I'm not ready for a gun." Clementine added.
"And we should stay with you."
"And go over plans with you first." Lee sighed and pulled both girls into a hug, surprising them both. Still, they accepted the embrace and hugged back.
"We learned that everything is dangerous." Lee stated as he pulled away from them. "We'll get better, smarter, and faster, okay?" The girls nodded and Lee smiled before leading them outside. They were met almost immediately with Christa.
"What happened? I thought I heard gunshots." She inquired, hands on her hips as she awaited an explanation.
"You did. Couple of walkers were holed up in the station." Roslyn said simply, gesturing to the corpses on the floor.
"Let me get this straight," Christa started as she turned to Lee, "it was you, a sixteen year old, and a little girl against a group of them?"
"Pretty much. We handled it though." 'And I'm clearly nineteen…'
"Yeah, well what if you hadn't?"
"Then we'd be dead. What else?"
"I hope you know what you're doing." Christa sighed, glancing at Lee before turning and heading back to the train.
"…I do too…" Lee murmured, causing Roslyn to frown. She growled lightly and took a few steps toward Christa, who was still walking.
"Hey! We're alive aren't we? Isn't that what really matters nowadays?" Roslyn shouted, Christa stopping for a moment to look back at Roslyn.
"Yeah, you are, but you should be more careful." She turned back without another word. Roslyn looked ready to jump Christa, but her eyes softened when Clementine held her hand.
"Are you okay, Roslyn?" She asked. Roslyn only nodded in reply as the three of them headed back towards the train. Clementine hurried over to Christa as Lee and Omid went up to move the tank, leaving the others to themselves. Roslyn was tempted to join Ben on lookout, but she knew there wouldn't be a point. Ben wouldn't speak with her and if he did, not much. 'After all, he doesn't trust me…not with whatever he's hiding.' She thought with a sigh as she ran a hand through her hair. 'I shouldn't even pry, but…this group is held together by honesty…there's nothing to hide anyway…right? Nothing major. Not in the apocalypse.' Roslyn looked up at Ben, who stood atop the train on lookout and she remembered him doing the same thing back at the motel. 'He was always lookout with Lily around…poor guy. Maybe I should say something to him. Don't want him thinking I hate him because of nothing.' Roslyn scurried over and stood beside the car Ben stood on, not even speaking for a minute or so. Ben was the first to speak once he noticed her.
"Hey Roslyn!" He greeted, seemingly happy she wanted to talk to him at all.
"Hi. How's lookout going for you?" She asked.
"Not bad. Haven't seen anything, luckily. We still need to get this train moving."
"I hear that. At least Lee and Omid are doing fine." As she spoke, the two glanced up to see Lee dangling Omid over the edge of the underpass as he cut at a coupling on the tank. "Well…they're getting rid of the tank."
"We'll be out of here soon." Roslyn silenced as she heard something, not even moving for fear of missing it. Groaning and footsteps accompanied by a rotten smell. Roslyn's eyes widened as she looked behind the train, Ben following her actions.
"There's something coming!" Ben yelled, still trying to clearly see the large hoard headed their way.
"We gotta go!" He shouted fearfully, already running to descend from the train's roof. The tank fell from the underpass and knocked the ladder down as it fell, Kenny already starting the train as it began to move. 'There's thousands of them…' She thought, terrified beyond reason.
"Roslyn! Hurry up!" Roslyn snapped out of her daze at someone shouting at her. The hoard was drawing close as Roslyn ran to jump onto the train, her heart trying to leap from her chest.
"Come on!" Roslyn ran alongside the train, jumping halfway into the car with her legs dangling over the edge. She heard flames crackle as they went through the underpass, still struggling to pull herself into the car. She managed as they exited, hearing a thump on the roof as if someone had jumped on it. It was soon followed by another, alongside Omid yelping in pain and tumbling onto the ground. Christa proceeded to jump from the train and sprint to Omid, helping him up as they hurried to catch up with the train. Lee entered the car and quickly pulled Omid inside. Roslyn held her arms out to Christa and heaved the woman inside the train, huffing and falling onto the floor.
"Oh my gosh! Are you okay?! You shouldn't do that!" Omid shrieked, holding his injured leg carefully.
"It's okay. I'm fine, honey." Christa replied breathlessly. Roslyn huddled into a corner of the train, shaking as she tried to catch her breath.
"Are you hurt?" Clementine asked when she entered the car, worried painted on her face.
"We're fine." Lee answered.
"Speak for your self. My leg is screwed." Omid grumbled.
"At least we're alive." Roslyn piped up.
"Yeah. At least we're alive." Lee agreed.
"So…how much longer till Savannah? I think I've had all the excitement I can handle for one day."
"Shouldn't be too far. Let's all just have a quiet minute and rest."
"Okay."
*many hours later…*
Roslyn woke up groggily, her head and arms resting on her backpack with drool at the corner of her lips. Wiping her mouth, Roslyn sat up and stretched. "Anyone know where we are now?" She inquired.
"Yeah. We're only a couple minutes away, since the city's in sight now." Christa answered, sitting not far from Roslyn with Omid sleeping bestie her, his head on her shoulder.
"Hey," Christa smiled gratefully at Roslyn as she spoke, "thanks for saving me."
"I couldn't leave you there. I want there to be as few casualties as possible. I can handle the dead walking, but not death itself."
"If we're lucky, we'll be out of this soon enough."
"I hope so…" Roslyn got quiet and Christa gestured for her to sit next to her, Roslyn deciding to do so.
"You should sleep for a while. You look like you haven't in days." Roslyn nodded as she yawned again, leaning on Christa's side. Christa wrapped and arm around Omid and another around Roslyn gently, easily lulling them to a deeper sleep.
"I'm sorry for snapping at you at the station. You need to understand what I meant though."
"I do. I'm sorry too."
"For what?"
"Everything I didn't say when I yelled back at you."
"It's fine. Trust me, I've been through worse."
"Haven't we all?"
"True, true."
"Just hope Savannah doesn't prove us wrong."
"It won't." Even with the sincerity in Christa's voice, Roslyn couldn't help but have a sinking feeling that they were in for quite a surprise. One no one would expect.