FINALLY!
I've finished the last chapter for Ryan Blutch for season 2! Of course, I'm continuing, starting with Season 3! I'll try to upload a little prologue for you guys in a week or so, giving me more time to make a plan for the story.
Reviews for this season finale are appriciated!
(Disclaimer; I do not own the Walking Dead
Chapter 25: Saying Goodbye
Merle
I couldn't believe I was actually doing this shit. I drove that damn kid to the farm. What for? So he can save his girlfriend? So he can safe my brother? Well, actually, I was saving my brother. And not for the first time. It must've been the millionth time I saved Daryl's ass. Even when he was a kid, he always got in a shit load of trouble, and I always had to dig him up.
Truth being told, I actually wanted to go there. I wanted to save my bro's ass. He was all the family I had left in this fucked up world. I might not be able to be with him, 'cause once you're with the Governor, you won't ever get rid of him.
The worst thing about this whole rescue-thing, was the fact that I knew this was the right thing to do. It may sound really girly, but fuck you. You don't know anything about living in this world where dead people walk around, governments have fallen, the living are on their own making stupid decisions, civilisation had reached the bottom, and all the other fucked up things. I don't care I started to act like a girl. Seriously, man, you should see Daryl. God damn pussy was starting to care about those people. What did I say again about stupid decisions?
I looked over at the passenger's seat. Ryan was focused on the road. The right side of his face was still purple and wounded, and his eye was barely open. Still, he stared through the front window. This kid had no idea what kind of shit he was getting me into. If I wouldn't be back in an hour, I had a serious issue to deal with. The Governor ain't joking when he asked you to watch the prisoner and transport him to the town. When he figures out I wasn't doing that, I'm practically dead. The Governor is a bitch, but I like his ways. Not like I have a choice. I just can't pack my stuff and leave.
Suddenly, Ryan turned his head. He didn't say anything at first, he was just looking. Almost observing. I gave him a quick look, and focused on the road. I waited for him to say anything, but it stayed quiet. I looked at him again.
"Whut?" I asked. Ryan narrowed his eyes, for as far as that was possible.
"How can you drive with that…thing?" he asked. I snorted.
"I got two hands, idiot" I simply answered. We finally got to the deep woods, and would reach the farm soon. Ryan turned towards the road again. From the outside, you wouldn't say he was nervous, but you could feel the tension.
"Yah ain't pissin' yer pants, are you?" I asked. Surprisingly, he chuckled, as if it was funny.
"Wasn't planning to. How 'bout you?"
"Not wettin' yet." I saw him grin. This fucker was risking his own, and mine, life doing this. He was on a mission to rescue his family of a certain death. And what was he doing? Laughing about bad humour.
With every tree that passed by, my doubts on this thing got bigger. Why did I believe his spooky-paranormal-story? Did I really became that weak?
The sight of a light between the trees, took his breath away.
"You need to stop here" he said. I lifted my eyebrows, and teased him by stamping on the gas paddle once more.
"Dude, pull over, now!" There was this little panic between those words, which made me put the car to a stop.
"What's the matter? Yah got a pissy pants?"
"Dude, that's not even a word" Ryan replied, as he got rid of his seat belt. "This is far enough. The lights you see there, are those from the house. I need to go to the barn first, I need to fix something. I gotta run real fast, 'cause we're exactly at the other end of the fields. The walkers are there too, you know. A lot of them. Not like a dozen, no, like a herd."
"I don't care what yah do," I said, almost sighing. "Jus' get mah bro outta there, an' be back before sunrise. An' seriously, come back."
Ryan had this stupid grinned on his face, as he opened the door. "I gave you my word, remember?"
"I know" I mumbled. Ryan got out of the car, and almost closed the door, as he hunched over.
"Hey, you got a lighter or somethin'?"
I lifted my eyebrows, but didn't ask any questions as I searched through the dashboard.
"Yah want cigarettes too?" I ask sarcastically. "What in tha hell are yah gonna do with it?"
"No thanks, I'm gonna burn this place down" he said, looking at the lights. I handed him the lighter, and he put it in his pocket. "See you in the mornin'."
And then, he was gone. And now, I had to wait 'til he got back. The plan was not to show his lil' friends my face. I also told him I couldn't. If they know I'm alive, they'll start searching for me after. Well, Daryl will. And if Daryl finds the town I'm in now…I didn't know what the Governor would do when Daryl would tell him about his group. Maybe he would let them come to the town, or he would kill them and steal their supplies, which I would do. Daryl would just have to get over it. But after a month and half not seeing him, I didn't know how much officer Friendly and the others meant to him. I bet it was more than just group to him. And I hated the idea.
But I had no choice. I chose the side of the Governor. I'm with men that think the same as me, who do the things I do. They know how this world works, I chose this life. I wasn't regretting it at that point, the wait in the car, but I would be. Oh hell, I was gonna regret it.
Rick
I held my son close as we ran towards the closest tree. The walkers, they were here. From the light of the moon, I could see their shadows, moving between the trees. They would soon reach the fields. We were doomed.
"Dad, we have to go to the house!" Carl whispered, his eyes big of all the scares. "We have to get mom and the others!"
I looked at the house, where the lights were still on. I couldn't see if Daryl and Glenn were back yet, and if they were, they would probably go look for me and…him.
"We can't" I whispered. "We might just bring the walkers to the house. We have to distract them, so the others can run."
"How are we going to do that?" Carl asked, panicking. I looked around, frustrated. The closest thing was the barn, but what could we possibly do with….
"Dad, look!" Carl suddenly said, pointing at something behind me. Over the fields, a shadow ran fast over the fields. It was too fast to be a walker. It was definitely alive. Was it….Randall?
"Is that…." I couldn't believe it. How dared he to show his face again? I put my hand on my gun, and started walking towards him. But after a few steps, Carl suddenly grabbed my hand.
"No, dad, wait!" He pulled my arm back. "He's here to help."
"How can you tell?"
His face got pale, as he just said a little too much.
"Carl, what do you know?"
He just pointed at Ryan, who had almost reached us. Ryan quickly looked over his shoulder, cursed, and ran even faster than before. From a quick look, I could see he wasn't carrying a weapon. Not at all. He wasn't carrying anything. One side of his face was completely purple and his eye was almost closed, his shirt was full of dried blood, and his jeans were ripped. He seemed to have gone through hell to get here.
"Rick!" he said, catching his breath as he stood still by the tree. "I'm sorry, I can't explain anything…but you gotta listen to me!"
I only didn't punch him because Carl held my arm against his chest, and was looking at me. I looked over my shoulder, first to him, then to the walkers, who were getting closer every minute. I nodded to Ryan, who sighed, almost relieved.
"First….is Dale really dead?" I was stunned by the question. Where the hell did that come from? With my arm against his chest, I could hear Carl's small heart beat a little faster, and I knew that he was also not expecting this.
"Yes, why do you ask?" I said, with a stone in my throat. Ryan facepalmed himself.
"Fuck…" he mumbled. "OK, long story short; I know what's going to happen tonight. And I know what to do to get us all outta here. First, you need to set the barn on fire."
"What?" I nearly shouted. "What are you talking about?"
"Rick, you have to trust me" he said, with his fingers in the pocket of his jeans. "The fire will attract the walkers, and lead them away from the house. I run towards the house, to warn the others. We then lead them away from the barn, pick you up."
I ran my fingers through my hair, frustrated. "How do you know this? How did you know about Dale?"
"No time to explain" Ryan answered, as he stood up. He extended his hand, with a small sliver object on his palm. "There's an oil tank in the back. Get as many as you can in there. I'll try to get the RV as close as possible. Hide in the attic."
I hesitated. Could I trust this guy, this person who held secrets from all of us? The guy who had played us, pretended to be the nice man. The one who left, with no explanation? I always found him one of us, a part of the group. I trusted him, he did so many good things for us. He said he knew what would happen this night, and how he could save us. Was he lying? How did he know about Dale?
"Dad, they're coming closer!" Carl said, his voice trembling. With a sour taste in my mouth, I took the lighter of his hand.
"I'll meet you in fifteen minutes" Ryan said, as he turned around, and started running towards the house.
Beth
It was him. I knew it was him. I could feel he was here. The second I heard the door, I knew he had come back. Only he would knock on the door.
Ryan always threw small stones at my window, at night, just like in the movies. I always said he could just come inside, but he was too careful for that.
With all the power I had in my hand, I swung the door open. And there he was. His face was bruised, his clothes bloody and ripped, and he was handsome as always. I stood still, looking, staring, at him. I could cry. I could literally cry.
I jump sky high, my arms around his neck, our bodies against each other. It was nice to feel his wide chest again, his big arms around my waist, the smell of leafs in his clothes. I could hold on to this moment forever, but I knew it had to end. He didn't just came back for me. There was a much bigger thing.
"Please, stay" I whispered in his ear. I heard hesitation in his breath.
"I can't make promises" he whispered back. I let go of him, put both feet on the ground, and looked at him. He planted a kiss on my cheek.
"Get the axe" he whispered. I lifted my eyebrows, scared of the need in his voice. I grabbed his hand, his soft hand, and squeezed it between my fingers. It was hard to let go, but I did. And I ran towards the stairs.
Daryl
I snorted, as I looked the man over. "Yah got som' balls ta show yer face here."
He looked at me, not in the mood for jokes. I wasn't really a nice goodbye we had, and he was still pissed about it. I didn't care.
"I know this sounds weird, but you have to trust me" he began. I chuckled. I had seen enough of these scenes to know where this was going. Ryan gave me a dirty look, as he continued.
"Daryl, would you please take a peek outside? You'll probably understand why I'm here."
I wasn't fond of the tone in his voice. It had something of anger, but also fear. I shrugged, hunched over to the window and peeked through the curtains. My heart skipped a beat, as I looked at the walking bodies over the fields, and the barn, who was lighten up with flames. All the walkers were drawn towards the fire, and more kept coming from out of the woods.
I turned to Ryan again. "What do yah wanna do?"
"What the…" T-dog mumbled, and Glenn and Lori looked over his shoulder. Ryan ignored them.
"We need all the vehicles," he started off "all the walkers are going towards the barn, which gives us some space. First, temper the lights. Second, go to the vehicles. Go in pairs, Daryl on his motorcycle, the rest in the cars. I'll take the RV. Rick and Carl are at the barn and…"
"O God!" Lori cried, as she put a hand over her mouth.
"….and if I take the RV, I will be able to get them out before the barn is burned to the ground" Ryan continued, more to Lori than to the rest. "Circle around the fields, kill as many as you can."
There was a silence in the house, everybody considering the plan. It was a weird situation, having a lost member(traitor) of our group back, with a plan to save our lives. I saw Glenn looking to Maggie, who gave him a nod. Jimmy pulled out his hands of the pockets of his jeans, ready to go. T-dog scratched himself at the back of his bald head, let out a sigh, and nodded. Andrea looked at the fire, and put a hand on her handgun. They were going to do this, I realized. They all knew there was no other choice. What chance did we head against thousands of the undead?
From the corner of my eye, I saw Ryan looking at me. He waited for my answer. I glanced at him, putting the crossbow a little tighter on my back.
"Guess it's better than nothin'."
Glenn
We all grabbed a gun and ammo. The look on everyone's face, the tension in the room, it made me feel like I was at war. Not that I ever been at one. But it felt like it.
I reloaded the shotgun, put some more in my pocket. I went over to the table, where we had the car keys laying. I grabbed the one of the green Hyundai. As reached out for them, another hand was put on mine. I looked up, and saw Maggie.
She was nervous. Her green eyes were filled with fear, but she kept strong. "I'll drive."
I opened my mouth to say something, but I shut it. Maggie smiled, and grabbed the keys under my hand. I didn't need to tell her to stay here, I knew she wouldn't. She wanted to do this, she wanted to fight for the farm. For her home. With me.
We walked back to the living room, everybody ready to go. We stood in a circle, everybody looking around. Pale faces, big eyes. Ryan was the first one to say something.
"Good luck, everybody" he simply said. Then, the group split up, walking towards several exits to go to the vehicles. I walked towards the kitchen door, as we heard someone coming down the stairs. Ryan stood by the front door, and his face brightened as he saw Beth. Maggie stood still, and I waited for her. She probably wanted to say her sister goodbye.
Beth walked over to Ryan, holding something big in what looked like an old dress. She handed it to Ryan, who unwrapped it. Maggie inhaled of disbelieve. Ryan held his own fire axe. Beth had had it all this time.
Beth turned to her sister, with the same green eyes of innocence. "I just kept it safe for him."
"I'm sorry, Maggie" Ryan quickly said, when Maggie opened her mouth. "I needed it to be safe for when I came back."
"What's so important about it?" Maggie asked, absolutely not fond with this. I heard shouts from outside, and I knew we had to hurry. I walked towards Maggie, stood still next to her.
"We really need to go."
"Where are the others?" Beth asked, looking around.
"They're outside," Ryan answered. "Listen, you need to stay here, OK? Do not leave the house, until there's no other way, you hear me? Do not leave the house."
"What? Why? I don't understand" Beth said, stepping closer to him. I saw Hershel and Lori coming back from the back door, and behind them Patricia and Carol.
"We need to safe the farm, there are….walkers" Ryan explained. Beth looked down, and I knew she had no idea what that meant. I guessed Ryan saw it too. He lifted her chin up with his finger, and looked into her eyes. They stared at each other, before Ryan planted a kiss on her lips.
I felt Maggie grabbed my hand. I looked at her. She was pale, and her hand was cold. She gave me a brave smile. I hated for being awkward. I tried to smile back, but it looked more like a Joker-imitation. Maggie squeezed my hand.
"C'mon people, don' be such pussies!" Daryl shouted from outside. "We ain't got all day!"
Holding hands, we walked to the exit. I turned around, and saw Ryan walk out the front door, leaving Beth behind.
Jimmy
"…and give it a twist" Andrea ended her story about how to start up the RV.
"OK, thanks" I said, and looked through the front window. Where the hell was he? We had to go!
Finally, I saw him coming from the front.
"Good luck" Andrea said, as she pat me on my shoulder.
"You too" I said, as she ran towards the blue truck, where T-dog waited for her. Ryan jumped into the RV, and sat down in the passenger's seat. Before he could say anything, we heard gunshots. We both looked through the front window, and saw Glenn hanging out of the green Hyundai with a shotgun, and Daryl circling around on his motorcycle, firing his small gun. The blue truck with Andrea and T-dog soon joined them.
"Man, that's way too many of them!" I said, looking at all the walkers. They were everywhere I looked, walking around in different directions. "How is that possible?"
"The cities are empty" Ryan softly said, "there's no food left. They need to migrate."
"Shouldn't we help them? There's no way they can-"
"No" Ryan said, his voice louder. "We stick to the plan. Get us as close to the barn as possible."
I did as he said and started the engine, by the instructions of Andrea. I almost wanted to step on the breaks, as I saw all the walkers at the barn.
"Are you…are you sure this is-"
"Yes" Ryan said, interrupting me again. "Listen, I know what I'm doing. This is the only way to get us all outta here. We have to get Rick and Carl, run back to the house, and get the others."
"What do you mean, get the others?" I had a slight idea what he was going to say, but I didn't want to believe it. Ryan looked at me, with a sad twinkle in his eyes.
"We can't stay here" he said. "You can't stay here. We won't be able to save the farm."
"What?!" Instead of stepping on the breaks, I kicked the gas paddle.
"Listen, the farm is lost, but we can still save ourselves."
"What are you saying? Have you foreseen all this?" We were nearing the barn, and I was scared for what was about to come over us.
"In some way" Ryan said. "I've seen what happens if we fight back. But if we don't, we can all get outta here and find someplace else. That's why I came back."
I suddenly noticed the fire axe on his lap. He didn't have it when he came into the house. I wanted to say something about it, but then I didn't. I looked at the guy, the guy who basically stole my girlfriend, my fiancé.
"You know, I'm glad you're back" I said, and I meant it. I saw him lift his eyebrows, and smiled.
"I'm glad to be back" he said. He pointed at the left right side of the barn. "Park here. I'll climb up and give them a sign…."
As he got up from his seat, walkers bumped into the front of the RV.
"Holy cow!" I mumbled, holding the hunting rifle close to me. "Make it quick!"
Ryan nodded, and climbed up to the roof. I stood up, and gave him a push to help him up.
"Rick! Carl! Over here!" he shouted. I heard the sheriff answer the call, and Ryan came back into the RV.
"Give me hand here!" he said, kicking with his feet in the air, trying to find a place to stand. I grabbed his legs, and tried to shove a crutch under it, when suddenly, the door opened. I heard moans, groans, saw rotten arms reaching for me, jaws clapping, and dead eyes. I froze out of fear, was not able to move. Before I could shout, three were upon me. Ryan shouted as he fell to the ground.
"Jimmy!" he shouted, as he saw me getting eaten. The first bite, I didn't feel at first. It was in my hand, the second in my shoulder. The second hurt a lot, and I shouted. Another bit my leg, and another grabbed my arm. I shouted out of pain and fear, as I realized what was happening to me.
Ryan grabbed the shotgun, which lay on the ground next to me, and shot the tree on top of me. He then kicked the other two out, and closed the door.
I leaned with my back against the table, my hand on the wound on my shoulder. I cried out of pain, and tried to breath. I felt all the blood flowing through my body, towards the wounds, going out. A pool of red formed around me. It burned, it stung, it hurt. My sight was blurred, I tried to see Ryan. He was holding the door, and grabbed a broom to lock it.
"Ryan…" I sighed. He kneeled down next to me.
"O shit, o crap" he mumbled, looking at the wounds all over my body. He lay the shotgun on the table, and tried to put pressure on the wound in my leg. I heard two loud sounds on the roof, one big and one smaller, and I knew Rick and Carl had made it out of the barn.
I turned to Ryan. I coughed, and tasted blood. The walkers outside were going crazy. They smelled my blood. The dying flesh. I knew this was it. There was no way I could make it out alive.
I put a hand on Ryan's shoulder. "Man, you gotta go."
"No, no way!" he said, and I was surprised by the anger, and intensity in his voice. Like he really cared about me.
"Dude, look at me" I said, and coughed again. Ryan shook his head.
"No, we can make it out, I just take you to Hershel."
"No way, man, just….make an end to it" I sighed. I felt weaker and weaker every second, every breath. I could hear my heart beat in my ears, and it was slowing down.
"I'm gonna turn, right?"
Ryan didn't answer, but kept trying to take care of the wound.
"Ryan, the rifle" I whispered. With my bitten hand, I reached for it. It was there somewhere, on the table.
"No way, you're not-"
"Shut up, man! I'm basically dead already!" I said, with more power than I had. I coughed, and wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth. "Just…do it. Make it quick, and get the hell outta here."
He ignored me again. I searched through one of the drawers, for an emergency kit. I grabbed his foot. He looked down.
"Ryan, do it."
He shook his head, but kneeled down. "You're stupid."
"You're dumb."
"I hate you."
"Same here."
I grinned, Ryan didn't. He picked up the rifle of the table, and stood up. He held it up, and aimed.
My life ended with a loud shot, and a splash of blood.
T-dog
"Damn" I mumbled, as I saw more and more undead coming from the woods. Andrea hang out the window, trying to shoot as best as she could. I circled around the fields, trying not to hit anyone, dead or alive.
"There's too many of them" Andrea shouted, as she climbed back in the car. "We can't take them."
I avoided a walker that grabbed tried to grab me through the window. "What do you wanna do then?"
"Look," she said, pointing at the house. I saw Hershel, who ran out with a shotgun. The women stood on the veranda, not knowing what to do. The walkers were closing in on them.
"We have to get them out of there."
"Good idea" I said, spinning the wheel and pumping the gas paddle. I saw Carol run first, and then Lori. After her, the blonde girl and the woman called Patricia ran out.
"Stop here" Andrea said, suddenly panicking. She almost jumped out, and ran towards a shed. I saw Carol was closed in by walkers, with her back against the wood. She was crying.
"T-dog!" Lori shouted, and I drove the car closer to her. Walkers were coming closer, and she ran as fast as she could to the truck. I opened the door to let her in.
Suddenly, the blonde woman was grabbed by her hair. A walker bit her, and pulled her to the ground. Two others smelled the blood, and came closer. The blonde girl screamed, and started crying, as she hold the hand of Patricia.
"Beth!" Lori screamed, as the walkers came closer. Before she could reach her, the sound of a skull breaking hold her back. The two walkers lay on the ground, and the third was just about to get his brain splashed by a fire axe.
"Lori, get to the truck, now!" Ryan shouted. The brown haired woman did as he said, and ran towards me. Ryan kicked the walker away from Patricia, away from his girlfriend. The girl had passed out, in shock of the sight of the walkers eating the woman.
Ryan lifted his head up, and looked me in the eyes. "Go, go, go!"
I hesitated, and looked at Lori. Her eyes were full of tears, and her hair was messy. She looked at me, and shook her head.
"We can't leave them!" Suddenly, her eyes widened. "O no, Andrea!"
I looked back at the shed, and saw she had disappeared. I saw her hand under a walker on top of her.
Hands were slammed at the truck, and more walkers came towards us. I saw Ryan holding the girl in his arms, as he started running.
"I'm sorry" I said to Lori, as I pumped the gas paddle.
Hershel
I shot one after another. They all needed to go down. They needed to be destroyed. They were on my land, my farm, my home. I wasn't going to give up. Not just yet.
From far away, I heard someone scream my name. It was nothing more than an echo, and it faded away by the loud gunshots. I reloaded, and shot again. Every shot was right. Every bullet was aimed right.
I only focused on the targets. The moving, dead, flesh eating targets. One by one, they fell to the ground. All I could see, was the targets. I couldn't hear anything else. I was in my own mode. The mode where I'm concentrated, and nothing can stop me. I will save my farm, my girls. I will overcome this madness. I will.
I took a few steps back, and reloaded. They were coming closer. The fire in the barn made their shadows long, and made dark silhouettes on the grass. The shadows licked the tip of my shoe.
"C'mon!" I shouted to them. "Get yer ass to here!"
I heard a gunshot behind me, and turned around. A walker fell to the ground, with Rick standing behind it, his gun still smoking.
"Hershel, we have to go!" he shouted. I turned towards the walkers, and ignored him.
"Where's Lori?"
"I don't know!" I said, aiming again.
"Where's mom? Did she make it out?" Carl asked, almost crying.
"I don't know!" I shouted. Why didn't they leave me alone? I had to save my farm, I was in a middle of the fight. I had to save my girls!
"Hershel, we have to get outta here!" Rick said. "The farm is lost!"
"No, it's not!" I said, firing another shot. "We can still save it, we can-"
"No, Hershel! We can't!" Rick spit the words in my face. I was shocked. I was stunned. I was insulted. But I finally realized how hopeless this was. I looked at the fire in the barn, the walkers closing in towards the house. It was hopeless.
With tears in my eyes, I prayed. I prayed to God, to ask Him for help, support, bravery. I needed that. I asked Him to look over my daughters, where they may be. I asked Him to take good care of my son and my wife in heaven. I was going to leave they rest place, there was no one to watch over them. I hoped He had heard my prayers.
I looked at my fields, the place I called home for so many years. In that tree, Beth used to climb up to the top. Maggie would look for her for hours, and sometimes she pretended to go looking for her in the woods, riding one of the horses. Actually, she just wanted to take a ride. At the other side of the field, Josephine used to seed flowers, and make the most beautiful creations. She and Patricia could sit down in the kitchen for hours, making bouquets. I smiled at the small shed, where Shawn used to play with one of Otis's hunting rifles. Shawn always wanted to hunt. He often went out with Otis. They didn't shoot the animals, though, they just looked at them. Sometimes, they practised, with bottles, or cans. Shawn was a good shooter.
I smiled at all the memories of this place. It was time to go. I lay a hand on Rick's shoulder. "Get to the car."
Andrea
I waved with my arms in the air.
"Rick! Rick!" I shouted. The walkers turned towards me, curiously. It was more of them than you could ever imagine. I panicked, and walked in a circle, thinking what to do now. I almost tripped over the gun of bags, which lay on the ground. I grabbed it, hung it over my shoulder, and started running to the woods.
It was my only way out. My only chance of getting outta there alive. I heard gunshots from somewhere else, and knew the others were also out there. I tried to find out where the shots came from, but the sounds echoed too much to really place them. I just ran and ran, ignoring the pain in my legs, the need for air in my chest, and the stings in my stomach. The moans and groans behind me motivated me to keep pushing. I couldn't stop. If I did, I would die.
I saw something weird between the trees. A dark object, big. I looked over my shoulder, and saw I didn't have a lot of space between me and the undead. I ran straight towards the thing between the trees, and as I got closer, I could see it was a car. Someone sat in it, at the wheel. It was a man.
I hid behind a bush, quickly looking over my shoulder where the walkers would be. I saw the man searching for something in the car. He seemed to have found it, 'cause he sat up.
From the light of the moon, I could see him put a bottle against his mouth. Alcohol. Whiskey, to be exactly. I could only see a silhouette of the figure in the car, but suddenly, he rolled the window down. He hang his arm out, with the bottle. His left arm….wasn't even an arm.
What? What was it? It seemed to be some kind of knife….
The man hung his head out the window, to glance at the moon. The recognition mad my heart skip a beat. No, that's not possible. It can't be. No way. How did he….
Merle Dixon hadn't seen me yet, and I stayed where I was. If we saw each other, it won't be a good reunite. I was one of the people that left him on a building in the middle of Atlanta, surrounded by walkers. He should be dead. How did he get out?
The trees behind the car shook. Leafs were pushed aside, and another person came into the light of the moon. My jaw dropped, as I saw Ryan holding an unconscious Beth in his arms. He ran towards the car.
"What tha hell, man?!" Merle shouted. "This ain't part of tha plan!"
He roughly opened the door, as Ryan softly put Beth in the backseat of the car.
"We can't take her with us, you fucker!" Merle said, as he gave Ryan a shove. "We're late already!"
"I couldn't leave her, not like this!" Ryan shouted back, his voice full of exhaustion and anger. "I couldn't let someone else die!"
"What do yah mean?" Merle suddenly asked, his voice softer. "Daryl…."
"He's fine, your brother is fine" Ryan mumbled, as he kneeled down by Beth. "She lost her nanny, or whatever she was, someone close. I had to take her down."
"Nice goin'" Merle mumbled back, kicking his feet against the car. I heard some footsteps coming from behind me, and a loud growl.
"Shit" I whispered to myself. Merle turned his head to where I sat, and I froze. I stared back, between the leafs of the bush. Did he see me or what?
"Now, what do we do?" Merle said, still staring at me.
"We….we go to the high way" Ryan sighed, grabbing his fire axe with both hands. "The others will be there and-"
"Wow, hey, that ain't the plan" Merle said, turning his head. Finally. "We only drove her to save yer lil' friends, and that's done. We can't stick around."
"You just said we can't take her with us, and I know" Ryan said, resting the axe on his shoulder like he always did. "We need to bring her back to her family. That's all I want to do."
"Ryan?" Beth's voice called from the car. "Is that you? What happened?"
"Now we're in shit" Merle grumbled, bringing the bottle to his lips again. Ryan kneeled down and helped Beth up.
"Yes, it's me. You're safe now."
"Where's….Patricia?" she asked. I felt my heart sting a little by the memory of the blonde woman being eaten. Ryan seemed to have a hard time to, clearing his throat.
"She's….she's…she's gone" he said eventually. Beth let out a cry, and put her arms around Ryan's neck. She buried her face into his shoulder, and let out a sob.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" Ryan said, rubbing her back softly. I saw Merle roll his eyes, as he leaned against the front of the car. I wanted to wait and see more, but I suddenly felt fingers grabbing my hair. I turned around, and tried not to scream as a walker fell on top of me. It growled loudly, and I heard Beth shout. I kept the walker of me by pushing his shoulders away, but his rotten face got closer and closer. I tried to get my leg away from under his body, and gave him a kick in the stomach. The walker rolled away from me, against a tree.
I turned my head, to see Merle start the engine, and Ryan jump into the car.
From the backseat, he held Beth in his arms, and he looked out the window. I looked back, and saw his eyes widen.
The walker stood up, and reached out for me. I grabbed my knife from my belt, and pushed the walker with his back against the tree, as I planted the knife into its skull. It let out a last growl, before falling down the ground. I looked behind the tree, to see more shadows coming towards me. I turned around, and watched as the car drove away from me, disappearing in the darkness. Above the trees, I could see the sky turning red. It would be light soon, and then I would be seen easier. But I would see them too.
I put the bag over my shoulder, and started running again. It wouldn't be safe to take the road, so I prepared myself to go into the wilderness again.
Ryan
I ran my fingers through her soft, blonde hair. She wasn't crying anymore. Instead, she just stared into nothing.
"And Maggie? Did she make it?" she asked. I put my cheek on top of her head that was leaning against my chest.
"She was with Glenn, they made it out."
"My dad?"
"I….I don't know." She had been asking about the group all the way, and I still waited for that one name. I knew she would ask about him, and I knew I wouldn't be able to answer it right.
"Jimmy?" There it was. I swallowed a stone away from my throat, and bit my lip, fighting the tears. The picture of the young man, bleeding out, asking me to kill him, it was the only thing in my head. I sniffed my nose.
"He…he asked me to do it" I said, blinking my eyes. Beth sat up, looking me in the eyes.
"Did you?"
I nodded. Beth gave me soft kiss on my cheek, seeing me fight the emotions.
"I'm so sorry" she whispered. Our hands found each other, and we held them like one. For a time we said nothing. Merle just drove further and further, coming closer to the high way every second. He kept looking at the front mirror, with an angry look. We were both in big trouble, and we both knew it.
"You are gonna leave again, don't you?" Beth asked, pulling me back into the real world.
"Yes" I simply answered. Lying wasn't an option anymore.
"Will you come back?" she asked, quickly looking at Merle, then back at me.
"I…I don't know." I ignored Merles chuckling.
"Can you try?" Beth asked.
"If it's meant to be, we'll find each other again."
"Man, I'm hearin' Jesus Christ talking here!" Merle said, chuckling. "Ain't nothin' as 'meant to be', mista."
Merle stopped the car. Beth looked at me, with fear in her eyes.
"We're here" I said. I opened the door, still holding hands with her, and helped her out. I hear Merle grumble something about stupid teenagers, and Beth somehow giggled a little. The sound of that gave me a warm feeling in my chest. It also made me realize it might be the last time I would hear that.
We stood still in front of a hill, with above us the high way. We could hear voices. Rick, Carl, Hershel. Beth let out a sigh of relieve by hearing her father.
"He made it" she whispered. She grabbed both my hands, and stood still in front of me. The warm feeling in my chest faded away, as I realized this was a goodbye.
"So, this is it, uh?" I said, looking her in the eyes. She sadly nodded.
"I guess so." She turned her head towards Merle. "Is he your friend?"
"No, not at all" I quickly said. "He's one of the men that captured me….Long story."
Beth lifted her eyebrows, looking in a different way at Merle. "Why is he helping you?"
"Well, uhm…he's, well, he's Daryl's brother."
"The crossbow man?"
"Yep."
The sound of a car sounded above us. And another, and another, and then the sound of a motorcycle. I saw Merle lift his head, and he grinned. His little brother made it.
"They're all here" I said. Beth nodded. Even though we knew each other pretty well, we still had our awkward situations. We both didn't know how to say goodbye.
Beth smiled by hearing the voice of her sister. I grinned when I heard T-dog let out a laugh, and Carl who reunited with his mother. I missed them, I missed them already.
"Crap" I whispered, as I sniffed my nose. I was literally an emotional wrack. Beth suddenly let out a sob too.
"I'm sorry" she said, laughing.
"Me too" I said. Suddenly, as if someone gave me a push, I planted my lips on hers. She kissed me back. Our tears met each other at the tip of our chins. I put my arms around her waist, and she put hers around my neck. We seemed to be one person, melting together. I felt her heartbeat, happily.
When we let go, we looked in each other's eyes. I wiped the tears of her cheeks, and gave her a kiss on her nose.
I then took a step back. Without saying anything else, I walked back to the car. I grabbed my fire axe, and gave it to her. Her eyes asked me why I gave it.
"I won't be there to protect you" I explained. "Molly is a nice weapon, you just need to get used to her."
She laughed at the little joke I made a few weeks ago, when she told me she was engaged to Jimmy.
"I'm sure we'll become close friends" she said. Our fingers touched each other one more time, before I walked back to the car, for real. I waited, and watched her walk up the hill. I heard surprised voices, cries of happiness.
"We've waited for long enough" Merle said, annoyed. "Get yer shit together, man. Wonderland is gone."
I stepped in the car, at the passenger's seat. "I know, time to go to Narnia."
"Well, it's called Woodbury, actually" Merle answered, before planting his fist in face. I slammed with my head against the window. He then grabbed me by my hair, and slammed my forehead against the dashboard.
"That's what you get for running off" Merle grinned.
"What the hell?" I said, with my fingers against my bleeding nose.
"We need a little excuse," Merle said, still with that grin on his face. "I thought, let's be creative."
"Fuck you" I mumbled, as he held up his fist to punch me again.