Italics: OC's thoughts
CHAPTER 25: BARGAIN
I looked around to check on everyone inside the house. I caught Maggie wrap her arms around her father, besides them Beth hugged Patricia as Jimmy placed a hand on her shoulder. I looked to the other side, Lori, Carol and Andrea were stuck staring at what could be seen through the windows. I turned around missing two people. I found T-Dog took a seat in one of the couches as he munched some bread. "Hey," I shot one last glance at the window and tapped the doorframe I laid on twice then made my way towards T-Dog. "Gimme sum. Haven' eaten all day…"
He split the loaf in half and handed me one. We ate it in silence; I was deep in thought sorting out the pros and cons of staying in the farm. Even my past had caught me here. But leaving the farm would be hard, I lost track of how much time we've been here without any trouble, it was like the apocalypse had stopped. While outside this land, the world got worse every day. But now that our little piece of heaven had been revealed, it was just a matter of time others would find out. It ain' safer 'ere no more. "Think we should get ready y'kno'… Jus' in case." T-Dog looked down at his hands then raised his eyes and stared straight ahead. I followed his line of sight and realized Lori had sent glares my way. I switched to the person besides her, Andrea. She placed a hand on Lori's shoulder and turned her to the window again. Andrea and I stared at each other and she gave a small nod before turning away again. My eyes traveled around the room and I noticed Jimmy staring at me intently. I raised a brow and he mimicked. I pointed with my chin at all of our stuff in the room and then made a small wag with my head. He understood. And I smirked.
I patted on T-Dog's shoulder and left the room. "Imma go check 'roun'." I said over my shoulder. I couldn't help having that odd feeling in the pit of my stomach. The one people would call 'intuition– the female sixth sense', the one I'd always claimed I lacked. In my case, it was the entire opposite. I strolled around the house and stopped by the stairs. I still missed Carl. I took one deep breath and climbed the steps, I let my hand slide on the railing. I tried to be as quiet as possible but the floor didn't cooperate much. I seemed like I walked around with high heels again.
"You worried?" My husky voice startled the boy staring at the window. Carl quickly turned around to face me and my eyes focused in the binoculars in his hands. The boy lowered his head until I couldn't see him anymore because of the hat he always wore. I didn't enter the room fully but instead laid on the doorframe and tucked my hands in my front pockets. I bit my lip. I couldn't place the uneasiness I felt. After what happened to me earlier this day, maybe the time to tell them the truth had come; maybe this was the time to let them know I'm not a man, that Matt does not exist; maybe this was the time to see if I'd join them permanently or I'd leave. Or they'd kick you out. I ran my left hand over my mouth and let out an exasperated breath.
"Hey… Matt," I rolled my eyes to face Carl when he spoke. "W– would you… If– if…"
"Speak yer mind boy, 'm listenin'." I ushered him sarcastically.
"If– if I go…" He looked back to the window then his eyes settled on me, determination is what I saw. "Would ya tell my mom?"
I chuckled and flicked my tongue. "That's a hard one boy…" I drawled, thick with my accent. I chewed the inside of my cheek as Carl looked down in apparent defeat. I looked down at my feet and tapped the doorframe twice then walked away from the room. Two steps later I heard the boy speak again and instantly stop, I smirked. Bargain.
I entered the room I once slept in and walked to the window. I could see the old barn from here. I shook my head in disappointment. Sophia. Damn it you were right there. I caught some small figures approaching. I squinted and looked closer; I squeezed my eyes pushing them to adjust quicker to the darkness outside. Oh no. My hands flew to my head and I immediately turned around. I climbed down the stairs taking three steps at a time, not caring about the scandal I made. "Walkers! Walkers outside!" I yelled as I reached the floor.
I ran to the room they all were in; the moment I entered my steps faltered. Daryl and Glenn were back. I stared right into Daryl's eyes, frozen in place. A rush of nerves and insecurity went through my body. I swallowed hard and after what seemed to be ages for me I spoke again. "There're walkers outside!" I wiped the cold sweat that traveled on my face while everyone ran outside to check. I looked around the room for my stuff. The moment I found it the lights went off.
"Matt!" I heard Andrea hiss.
"Over 'ere." I replied shortly as I set my backpack on my back, ready to flee if needed.
"Where's the bag o' guns?" I heard some bumping and rustling of furniture. I helped her look around as Lori flew past me.
"Found it!" I hissed to Andrea. She quickly approached, pulled a handgun out and ran back outside. I looked at the door and frowned when Lori came back inside, this time with Carol.
Once in the porch I saw Maggie hand a shotgun to Glenn, there were only so many shotguns in that bag. And the only fire gun I knew how to use was a shotgun. When T-Dog grabbed a handgun and stepped away I made my way towards the bag and found there were no more shotguns left. Fuck. I walked away from them and pulled out my axes. I tucked my hand in the lower pocket of my bag and pulled out the three throwing knives. I set them in my pants in a way I could pull out and throw them away easily. Better be a man now Kat.
"Come on! Let's get to the cars!" Glenn shouted as he and Maggie quickly took off towards Shane's car.
Shane.
I haven't noticed he and Rick weren't back until that moment. "Shane!" I yelled as ran around the house. "Shane!"
"Matt!" I abruptly turned to the voice, hoping in vain that voice would be his. It wasn't as grave as his. It wasn't him.
But my stubbornness always made me believe what I wanted to believe. "Sha–"
"Matt, get over 'ere!" Jimmy continued as he waved and pointed towards the RV. You've gotta be kiddin' me. Bet yer ass tha' shi' ain' gon' work with me in it. I dropped my head and ran to him. I hopped in the driver's seat. Jimmy looked at me crossed but got my point when I raised my weapons and pointed at his handgun.
"Damn, drivin' this shit's hard." I complained while half of Jimmy's body hung outside the window as he shot the walkers. I drove towards the main entrance of the farm, the same gate I used when I drove a bleeding T-Dog the first day. We stopped right at the borderline and I flicked the lights to gather the walkers' attention. "Shoot at those that are already in!" I instructed Jimmy when I saw he was shooting at the ones up front. I took a quick glance to my back. It was neither the moment nor time to get nostalgic but I couldn't help it. Whilst the boy took aim, I replayed every activity that had occurred inside this RV. I looked at the table, where we had many dinners and where Shane almost got to teach me how to use a handgun.
Shane. Where the hell is he?
"I'm goin' out." I said more to myself than to Jimmy. The boy had gotten back inside to load his gun again. I didn't give him time to question me. He wouldn't dare either, so I jumped off the driver's seat and grabbed both axes.
"… Rick or Shane… Fire." Was all I managed to understand but, it was enough to make my head pop up. I ran towards the front of the RV and halfway there I saw it. The barn, the weird storage closet Hershel kept his people in, it was on fire. Burning down and gathering more walkers by the second.
"Got it!" Jimmy woke me up from whatever thought I got lost in and drove towards the burning barn. I jumped on the passenger's seat and adjusted my grip on the axe. I stretched my arm outside and grabbed the axe by its butt. I chopped a bunch of heads off before I put my arm back inside to rest. "It's Rick 'n' his boy." Jimmy commented and I raised my head to look at them. Where's Shane? Rick waved at us frantically and instructed us to park right underneath them.
"It's a freakin' pool of walkers!" I cursed inside. What Rick wanted us to do was almost suicidal. I knew the RV's door wasn't strong enough to handle all the pushing. Nevertheless Jimmy drove down there. I got closer to the window and watched as Rick grabbed Carl's hand and jumped from rooftop to rooftop. "They're here." I called when I heard footsteps atop the RV. I jumped off the seat and went towards the bathroom to open a small hatch and let them in. I looked over my shoulder and saw Jimmy stood up and walked towards the door. "No, get back there," I pointed to the driver's seat, Jimmy looked at me and then at the door. "Drive the hell aw–" I couldn't finish my remark for the RV's door broke down and walkers swarmed in. My breath faltered. "JIMMYYYYYY!" I yelled my heart out. I tried to reach him as his arm stretched to touch me. I grabbed his hand and squeezed it. I passed the axe from my right hand to my left and raised it. Jimmy eyes closed as he endured the pain of being eaten alive. I dropped the axe and put him out of his misery. I took advantage of his dead body and ran away from the door. I grabbed my gear and made my way to the bathroom. I secured the door and stepped on the sink. I grabbed the clean axe and with its butt I hit the plastic frame used as a roof trying to break free. I adjusted my stance on the sink when I slipped. "Ow Fuck!" I looked at my right arm. My pullover's sleeve was cut, and so was my arm. Right next to the long scrape I earned in the woods. Fucking deserve it fer bein' stupid. Did it never occur ta put the sharp end away from ya? I built up rage in me and finally managed to break the plastic roof. I let out three quick breaths and jumped to get a grip on it. My grip on the open top tightened up to a bleeding point when I pulled myself up by arm's strength.
Atop the RV I pulled out one if the knives in my waist and cut off the entire sleeve. With the help of my mouth I tore it in pieces and tied it around my cut. Better be glad it wasn' the useful one. I made my way to the back ladder and looked around the land. Major chaos. It had been so long since I witnessed something like that. I squeezed my eyes when some memories flashed by. Bodies. Dead bodies ripped apart. My father. My sisters. My family. A door handle. My door handle. My bloody hand on it. I looked up to the black sky. There was no sky. There was a roof. I closed my eyes and with my good hand hit myself in the head. Come on. Now's not the time. I slapped my temple once more before coming back completely. I looked down and saw a clear ground. I climbed down and ran away from the RV. Away from the painful memories that holed that RV. That barn.
I circled the big truck and looked to my left at the dark woods. Then I looked straight at the cars driving around and shooting frantically. Should I stay or should I go. I saw Glenn ahead, half his body outside the window of Shane's car. "Fuck." I spat and ran towards the rest of the people.
"Carol! Carol stop!" I tried to stop Carol from running further away from the house but there was no use. She was in shock. Carol pushed me away from her and kept on running towards the chicken shed. "It's a dead end! Get yer ass over 'ere!" I threw some knives to the walkers closest to her before I got pulled down by my backpack. I looked up and saw a gross, rotten face crouching to get me. Pulling the same stunt I did in Atlanta, I rolled on my back away from the corpse and quickly stood back up. "Hey! Sum bitches, over 'ere!" I tried to get the attention of the walkers from Carol, for she was defenseless.
I ran to the end of Hershel's land and crossed the fence right when a blue pickup truck got closer. I waved my arms and it flicked its light. I jogged towards it as the trucked slowed its speed but never came to a full stop. I pulled my gear off and threw them on the bed. I looked around and saw the walkers swarm around us. I hit the side of the bed and the truck picked up some speed. I ran faster to catch up and jumped on the back as the driver pushed the gas and quickly drove away from the farm.