Chapter 34
Lexi was exhausted, they had been running all night desperately trying to get as much distance between themselves and Negan as they could. The woods were quiet except for the odd distant growling of zombies, all of her arm hairs were sticking up fear and adrenaline the only things keeping her going. "How much longer are we going to run?" She panted, her body in need of a rest.
"If we stop he'll get us," Alison wheezed in replied, pausing to allow Lexi to catch up. "Lexi you need to understand the severity of the situation here." Grasping hold of Lexi's wrist she looked down at the small watch. "It's almost five now, in under an hour someone will be going to check on me and I won't be there." Dropping Lexi's wrist, she closed her eyes and let out a long breath. "You aren't pregant anymore. He will kill you if he finds you." With the same purpose Alison started marching on through the wood again, casting a quick glance over her shoulder to check Lexi was following.
"Where are we going to go then?" Lexi moaned trailing behind Alison, her legs too tired to keep up anymore.
"I don't know yet," Alison said. "We'll try find what's left of the people I was with. If we can't find them then we leave this god forsaken state behind." Doubling back on herself she held Lexis hand as tight as her sore fingers would allow and all but dragged her along. "You got me out of there , so you are more than capable of surviving this part."
Alison was right, Lexi had done the plan all alone and it had worked. She was stronger than she gave herself credit for. Negan would kill her, the only thing that had stopped him when he found out about Rick was she was pregnant and this was an even worse betrayal.
"So can we pick up the pace?"
"Sure." Lexi moved her speed up to a jog and followed Alison's clear path through the trees. So far they had only come into a few zombies and Alison had made short work of them; it had been over a year since Lexi had been outside alone with them and she'd forgotten how terrifying they truely were, especially in a group the two of them tried to avoid conflict as much as possible with the only weapon they had being a broken broom. "Ali, what if we can't find your old camp?" There was no chance the pair would make it all the way out of Georgia with no food or water and no weapon, and Lexi needed a solid plan.
"Then we head to a town for supplies, get what we can and move on quickly. The first place he will look is towns near by the compound, logically it's where we would go."
"So we're going to go there? Right where he's looking!" Lexi bumped into the back of Alison unable to stop in time, it was too sudden. "What? Why are we stopping?"
Alison lifted her hand to silence Lexi. "Do you hear that?" She said in hushed tones. "Someone's on the road." Crouching low she scuttled through the under growth towards the roadside where the low hum of an engine could be heard.
"What if it's one of the scavenger groups from Sanctuary?" Lexi whispered crouching quietly by the side of the road with Alison, careful to remain hidden behind some of the folliage. "They'll have guns." Just as she'd feared Lexi recognised one of the females from Sanctuary. "Alison-" But she stopped short, Alison was already slinking across the road, pausing every now and then to duck behind an abandoned car or rubble. Defeat swept the forefront of Lexi's mind, Alison was going to get herself killed and then Lexi would be found returned to Negan and then eventually killed. All of the blisters she'd got on her feet were for nothing.
"We ready to go?" One of the men asked, heading back to the beat up silver car that was still purring. "Negan expects us in an hour." When no one replied he looked around him confused. "Jenna? Marcus?"
Lexi could only watch on in astonishment, Jenna and Marcus both lay on the road deep wounds in their necks blood spilling out. They weren't far from where the last man was pacing and it was only a matter of seconds before he saw what had happened to his companions.
"What the?" A violent gurlging poured from his throat stopping him from finishing; waiting the opposite side of the car Alison had leapt out and stabbed him in the same manner as the others when he was distracted by the bodies.
"Quick!" She yelled out to Lexi, snatching the gun from the mans holster. "Lets get out of here before they turn." Handing Lexi one of the guns she'd aquired, Alison climbed into the drivers seat and made a sharp U-turn before taking off up the road. "Now we have weapons atleast!"
Inside her chest Lexi's heart was hammering at a hundred miles an hour, she couldn't remember the last time she'd been so on edge.
"And, seems one of out fallen comrades was a smoker." With her right hand Alison reached into her jean pocket and produced a crumpled pack of cigarettes. "You look like you need one."
That was an understatement, ideally Lexi needed a strong drink. "You're insane." She said with a laugh taking the packet from Alison's hand and lighting them each a cigarette with the cars electric lighter. Looking at her escape partner Lexi began laughing loudly, Alison joining in heartily, the freedom felt amazing and so liberating. The only mistake Lexi had made was not doing this sooner, at that moment in time she felt like nothing in the world could stop her and Alison.
"We need to set up a small camp for tonight, but for now we keep driving till this thing runs out of gas or until we can't get it along a road anymore." Alison eventually spoke, her laughing under control. "We have one stop before we leave all his shit completely behind though." Her face had turned serious as a bloom of smoke blew out of her nose.
"Alison...you can't let this...this rage towards Rick consume your life!" If Lexi had turned down heroin, her one real vice in the entire world, then Alison needed to realise that this hatred she harboured for Rick was controlling her life. "I don't know what happened between you both but it can't be worth all this hurt on yourself."
Alison's dark eyes were set like stone on the road ahead, even just the thought of Rick filled her with unrepentant anger. "Let me ask you something," Her voice was still and calm. "If I killed someone you loved, I mean really loved with all your fucking being, would you not want me dead?"
"Well yes, but-"
"Now add to that the person I kill is my bestfriend of many years, and I do it in front of you and my own son." Alison look a long drag on the cigarette letting her words resinate with Lexi. "He didn't even bury him. He left him like a deer he'd accidently hit with his car. A decent person doesn't do that." Her chocolate eyes flicked over to Lexi, taking in the conflicted expression on the young womans face. "He took the only thing in this world I still had and he walked away with everything."
Lexi didn't know what to say. It didn't sound like the Rick she knew, the Rick who had brought her back to her parents home no questions asked when he'd found her passed out on a bench or by the side of the road. The Rick she knew was a caring, loving man who would do anything for anyone he loved, especially Shane. "I knew Shane and Rick, before all this."
Alison's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Small world, huh?"
"They were more like brothers than friends. It was like Carl had two dad's." Lexi smiled at the memory. "Shane was a good man, he was there to lookout for me with all my shit, and so was Rick."
Alison's hard face had softened slightly, hearing about Shane from someone who knew the good man he really was it was the best feeling she'd had in a long time. "What was he like back then?"
Lexi had never heard Alison speak so softly before and suddenly a wave of pity hit her hard; with Negan she'd been controlled and abused but she had somewhere and she had Lewis, she had somebody but Alison had no one for years. "He was handsome, but he knew it!" A knowning laugh came from Alison. "He was the cop you went to when you were in trouble and din't want to be judged. God knows he never judged me and my stupid dicisions! All the girls at my school fancied Shane, and they'd get so jealous when I would speak to him because I knew him." Chancing a glance over at Alison, Lexi saw tears in her eyes. "He had one of the biggest hearts that I've ever come across. I'm so happy I knew him."
The car stayed silent for some time before Alison broke the quiet. "I went back for him. After he died." Again her eyes didn't flatter from the road. "I burnt his body, and kept some of the ashes on me."
A lump lodged in Lexi's throat as she connected the dots; Lewis had been speaking about Negan throwing some dust like substance away and how it destroying Alison, she didn't need to hear the words to know what happened.
"Negan threw them away. Scattered them into the wind like it was nothing. That was all I had left of Shane." Alison's voice hitched at the pain. "The man I loved, I have nothing. Negan may have taken the one thing I had left of him but Rick is the reason that was the only thing." The toughened expression she usually wore returned to her pretty features. "I want you to take us to him, then we'll leave this fucked up place for good. I promise, this is just something I need to do."
"Alison I can't assist you in killing Rick, I just can't do that. I'm happy to make a stop there so you can talk it out but I will not take you there if you're going to kill him."
Alison deliberated the offer for a moment. "Fine," She agreed finally. "I won't go there with the intent to kill him. But, if he does something that makes me end up killing him, that's on him." Lexi nodded her reluctant agreement. "Fantastic, so what way to Ricks?"