Out of the Woods (The Walking Dead)
Guts:
How many days had it been? She had lost count. The refugee camp in West Virginia went down so quickly, she and her family barely made it out alive. After that it was nonstop running and the days became a blur. She, her mom Nancy, little niece Maggie, and best friend Lucy all piled into a car and drove. They didn't know where they were going or where they would end up. They just kept going...They had to. There had to be something better...
But there wasn't. She knew that, now that they were all dead. There wasn't any hope. There wasn't anything better. Now she was doing nothing but running through the woods with the small stack of supplies in the bag on her back. Her ten-year-old niece, Maggie, was the last to go the day before. She escaped her sights for a second, and that's all it took for a biter to get her. The bite had torn out poor Maggie's throat, giving her no other choice but to use her .38 to put her out of her misery; the same .38 she also had to use on Lucy and her own mom. Her ammo was now dangerously low. Last she checked the only bullets left were in the gun, no more than four. Perhaps she should cut her losses and just use one of those bullets on herself and be put out of her own personal misery.
She decided to keep the gun away for now and have her throwing knives on hand. Those were the most sufficient when it came to handling more than one biter at a time instead of a small gun. She sat on the forest floor for a brief moment in order to catch her breath and sip what little water she had left in her plastic bottle. Her body cried for her to stop and rest longer since she couldn't remember the last time she even slept. Her mind was too wired and on edge to sleep, nor was there a place to do so safely. Opening the bag she slung around from her back, she pulled out a can of pineapple chunks and began to desperately scoop them out of their juice with her bare hand and shove them into her mouth.
Once she inhaled the entire can, she tossed it to the ground, closed the bag, then started moving again. Sudden rustling in the trees made her pause and reexamine her surroundings.
There were biters, lots of them. And they were coming straight for her...
A gunshot pulled Suzy away from her thought about the day before. Looking to her right, she saw Merle firing his gun at biters down on the road from the edge of the rooftop.
"Merle, what are you doing?" She asked.
"Just takin' out some geeks, darlin'." Merle replied, his eyes not leaving his aim. "They're crowding around the entire buildin'. We ain't ever gonna get out alive like this!"
Suzy rolled her eyes and replied, "I swear if you're methed out right now, everyone is about to come up here and beat your ass."
Merle ignored her comment and kept shooting his gun down at the biters anyway. She knew the sound of the gunfire would stir them up and only draw more. But it was obvious Merle could, as he would say, give less of a shit.
"Hey Dixon, you crazy?!" Morales shouted. Everyone ran up to the roof, questioning why Merle was wasting bullets. Merle just laughed casually.
"Hey, you outta be more polite to a man with a gun!" Merle joked. He jumped down from the ledge and stood next to Suzy. "Only common sense."
"You're wasting bullets we ain't even got man!" T-Dog jumped down, now standing in front of Merle. "You're bringing them down here on our ass!"
Merle stepped closer to him.
"It's enough I got this taco bender on my ass all day, now I have to take orders from you?" Merle started getting up in T-Dogs space, taunting him.
"Merle, stop." Suzy spoke up behind him, remaining where she was.
"Stay out of this darlin'." Merle quickly turned to face her then turned back to T-Dog. "I don't think so bro. That'll be the day."
"That'll be the day?" T-Dog questioned. "You got something you wanna tell me?"
"T-Dog, stop. It's not worth it." The man named Morales, who Merle referred to as "taco bender", stepped in, "Just back off."
T-Dog refused to back down.
"Guys, let's just relax." Suzy tried to calm things down. She could feel the tension, and she didn't like where this was heading. "Okay? We've got enough trouble going on here as it is."
"You wanna know the day?" Merle asked T-Dog, ignoring her completely.
"Yeah." T-Dog insisted. If Merle had something to say, he wanted it said to his face.
"I'll tell you the day "Mr. Yo", is the day I take orders from a nigger."
T-Dog, rightfully offended, lunged at Merle, punching him in the face. Merle used his gun to hit back, knocking him down. Suzy started shouting at them to stop and screamed at Merle, saying he was out of line for that comment. She could hear another girl, Andrea, pleading for them to calm down while some stranger Suzy had yet to meet intervened. Merle immediately punched the guy, knocking him down, while T-dog stood up just asking for more. Merle turned his attention back to him, kicking him in his gut, making him hit his head on the metal pipe.
Suzy inched closer, and helped the stranger stand. Examining him, she saw he was wearing a police sheriff's uniform. Where'd he come from? He didn't come on this run with them. Her attention went back to Merle, who continued to beat T-Dog, and the fight got to the point when Merle pinned him down, pulled out his pistol, and pointed it at his face. Andrea begged Merle not to shoot, but he wasn't listening. Merle raised his head, looking at the expressions on everyone's faces, trying to decide if he should listen to his conscience or not. He then spat at T-Dog, deciding not to pull the trigger. He slowly stood up as Suzy backed away from him and stood by Andrea.
"Alright. Gonna have ourselves a little pow-wow." Merle stood over T-Dog and looked at everyone. "Talk about who's in charge. I vote me!" Merle spoke as Glenn, Andrea, and another woman named Jacqui, dragged T-Dog away from Merle. Oh yeah, he's methed out, no doubt, Suzy thought to herself.
"Anybody else? Huh? Democracy time ya'll. Show of hands. Huh? All in favor? Come on, let's see 'em." Merle insisted.
"All in favor?" Merle asked once again. Only Andrea and an Asian boy by the name of Glenn, raised their hands. "That's good."
This guy was beginning to get on Suzy's last nerve. This was the same person who saved her life yesterday? She stood next to Andrea and pouted, giving him the "you're really pissing me off" look. If she knew his certain, well, issues, made him this much of an ass, then she should've kept running.
"That means I'm the boss right?" Merle continued talking. "Now anybody else?" He looked directly at Suzy, but she didn't budge. This angered him to an extent. "Anybody?"
"Yeah." The Sheriff held Merle's rifle and hit him across his head, knocking him to the rooftop floor. The Sheriff handcuffed Merle's right hand to the metal pipe, restraining him.
"Who the hell are you man?" Merle grunted as the Sheriff lifted him up forcefully.
"Officer Friendly." The Sheriff replied. "Look here Merle, things are different now. There are no, "niggers", anymore, no dumb inbred white trash fools either. Only dark meat, and white meat. There's us, and the dead. We survive this by pulling together, not apart."
"Screw you, man." Merle replied.
"I can see you make a habit on missing the point." The Sheriff continued.
"Yeah? Well, screw you twice." Merle said.
"You outta be more polite to a man with a gun." The Sheriff pointed his gun at Merle's head, using Merle's words against him. "Only common sense."
"You're a cop?" Merle spoke, not liking the Sheriff's first impression.
"All I am anymore is a man looking for his wife and son. Anyone who gets in the way of that is gonna lose. I'll give you a moment to think about that."
The Sheriff searched Merle's pocket and pulled out a dose of cocaine. Oh, so methed and coked out. Nice, Suzy commented in her head. As if her respect for this ass wipe couldn't get any lower.
"You got some on your nose there." The Sheriff spoke sarcastically.
"What are ya gonna do? Arrest me?" Merle laughed. "Hey! What are you doin' that's my stuff!" Merle yelled as the Sheriff threw Merle's drugs off the roof.
"If I get loose, you better pray!" Merle yelled. Everyone walked away and ignored him while he threw his tantrum. "You hear me you pig? You hear me!"
"Yeah, your voice carries." The Sheriff said, barely listening. Suzy couldn't help but chuckle. This stranger was pretty okay.
"God it's like Times Square down there." She heard Andrea say.
"How's the signal?" Morales asked T-Dog who was leaning against the wall, across from Merle.
"Like Dixon's brain, weak." T-Dog said looking at Merle. Merle turned and looked at him. All Merle had to do was flip him off to get his point across.
"Keep trying." Morales replied.
"Why? There's nothing they can do. Not a damn thing." Andrea turned.
"They have some people outside the city, not like it matters." Suzy said to the Sheriff. "We're on our own. It's up to us to find a way out."
"Good luck with that." Merle spoke up. "These streets ain't safe from what I hear." His eyes fell on the beautiful, blonde hair and blue-eyed Andrea. "Ain't that right sugar-tits?" He smiled playfully.
"Hey, honey-bunch." Merle tried getting Andrea's attention. "What say you get me out of these cuffs, we go bump some uglies? Gonna die anyway."
"I'd rather." Andrea replied.
"Rug muncher. I figured as much." Merle said, accepting his rejection. I am one more bad impression from vomiting over the rooftop right now, Suzy almost let this comment slip, but ultimately found the strength to keep it to herself.
"The streets aren't safe." Morales said turning the attention away from Merle. "Now there's an understatement."
"What about under the streets?" The Sheriff questioned. "The sewers?"
"Oh man." Morales said. "Hey Glenn, check the alley. You see any manhole covers?"
Glenn replied after checking, "No, must be all out on the streets where the geeks are."
"Maybe not. Old building like this built in the 20's; big structures often had drainage tunnels into the sewers in case of flooding, down in the subbasements." Jacqui spoke up.
"How do you know that?" Glenn asked.
"It's my job-was." She replied. "I worked in the city zoning office."
"Okay," The Sheriff said, "Come on. Let's find our way out of here."
The group went down to check the sewers while T-Dog, Suzy, and obviously Merle, stayed. Suzy went and sat next to T-dog as he continued trying to get a signal on the radio. For a while, there was no other conversation other than T-Dog talking into the radio, only the signal was so bad he couldn't get a reply.
"Anybody out there?" T-Dog spoke into the radio once again. "Hello? Anybody read? I'm hoping to hear somebody's voice cause I'm getting sick and tired of hearing mine."
"Yeah well that makes two of us." Merle commented. "Why don't you knock that crap off? You're giving me a headache, boy."
Same as Suzy, Merle needed a good slap across the face 99% of the time.
"Why don't you pull your head out your ass, maybe your headache will go away." T-Dog commented back. "Try some positivity for a change, damn."
"I'll tell you what, you get me out of these cuffs, and I'll be all "Sammy Sunshine" positive for you." Merle smiled.
"I'm getting sick and tired of hearing you two fighting." Suzy spoke up, "Either say an idea to get us out of here, or don't say anything. How's that?"
Merle smirked, "All right then. Hey sweetheart, see that hacksaw over there in that tool bag? Get it for me, hmm? Make it worth your while."
Was he actually being serious right now?
"What do you say? Get me out of these things." Merle continued trying to persuade her.
"So you can beat my ass again?" T-Dog intervened, letting Suzy breathe. That was his way of saying, "don't worry, I got you." "Or call me nigger some more?"
"Come on now, it wasn't personal." Merle replied. "It's just that your kind and my kind ain't meant to mix, that's all. It don't mean we all can't work together, parley, as long as there's some kind of mutual gain involved." He looked at Suzy again. "So-about that hacksaw."
"I guess you want her to get that rifle over there too so you can shoot that cop when he comes back up, huh?" T-Dog snapped at him so he would back off. This group already knew him too well and could predict his intentions. Although those intentions weren't entirely too difficult to predict.
"Darlin', come sit by me." Merle offered to Suzy. Reluctantly, she stood and went across to sit by him.
"What?" She asked bluntly.
"I don't think I like the tone you're gettin' with me right now." Merle snickered.
"I don't care." Suzy replied in the same blunt tone.
"Come on, honey. You said you owed me when I saved your life. Why the sudden change of heart?" He asked.
"The last thing I need is to be yelled at by everyone for un-cuffing you and you starting your one-man riot again." She stated, looking away from him.
"Now, now honey, don't take it so hard, I was just tryin' to show them who's boss." He chuckled. "I'm all calm and fragile now."
"Yeah, you sure showed them who's boss." She said sarcastically, gesturing the handcuffs.
"So feisty. I think I like that about you." Merle chuckled again.
"Are you just saying that so I'll un-cuff you?" She asked.
"Oh no, I'm being a hundred percent honest with ya." Merle replied. "So if not this, you still owe me sugar-tits. Maybe we can work something out when we get back to the camp."
"Not happening." Suzy rolled her eyes.
"You're right. We should probably be a good distance away from the camp." He laughed, "Don't need anyone hearing you owing me real good."
"Excuse me?" T-Dog spoke up from across the roof, "Do I have to keep being subjected to this conversation or what? This roof is only so big."
Suzy shook her head, "Sorry, T. And no, this conversation is long over."
The second Suzy stood up, the others had finally made their way back onto the roof, still having no plan of escape. The first set of doors below were already busted open. Time was of the essence now. How were they all supposed to get out of the damn city at this point?
"That construction site, those trucks-they always keep keys on hand." The Sheriff said, handing Morales the binoculars.
"You'll never make it past the walkers." Morales warned him.
"You got me out of the tank down there." The Sheriff looked at Glenn.
"Yeah, but they were feeding. They were distracted." Glenn replied.
"Can we distract them again?" The Sheriff asked.
"Right. Listen to him. He's onto something." Merle spoke up, trying to get on Sheriff's good side. "A diversion, like on "Hogan's Heroes.""
"God. Give it a rest." Jacqui snapped at him.
"They're drawn by sound, right?" The Sheriff questioned.
"Right, like dogs-they hear a sound, they come running." Glenn replied.
"What else?" The Sheriff asked.
"Aside from they hear you?" Suzy asked. "They see you, smell you, and if they catch you, they eat you."
"They can tell us by smell?" The Sheriff asked in disbelief.
"Can't you?" Glenn asked sarcastically.
"They smell dead, we don't. It's pretty distinct." Andrea spoke up.
The Sheriff thought of an idea and told Suzy to stay and keep an eye on Merle while everyone else went to put the plan into motion. Glenn and the Sheriff were going to cover themselves in zombie guts so they could get to the truck that could fit everyone inside. Suzy didn't feel comfortable trying to talk to him after what he just tried and he could sense it. Their entire time alone on the rooftop was awkward and silent. After about fifteen minutes, everyone except Glenn and Sheriff came back up to the roof to get all of their stuff and monitor what was going on out on the street.
"Hey, what's happening man?" Merle asked anxiously. He couldn't take being handcuffed there any longer, he wanted out.
"Hey T-Dog, try that C.B." Morales said as they ran.
"Hey, come on, talk to me ya'll." Merle said getting nervous.
"Base camp, this is T-Dog. Anybody hear me?" T-Dog spoke into the radio. "Can anybody out there hear me?"
Next thing they knew, the radio static faded and a broken signal came in. T-Dog could've sworn he heard a voice asking him to repeat himself.
"Shane is that you?" T-Dog asked, "We're trapped in the department store on the roof, there's geeks everywhere. We're surrounded! Can you hear me?"
And just like that, the signal was gone and all he heard was the same static. Whatever voice they thought they heard was gone.
"Damn it." Suzy sighed, "We really are on our own, aren't we?"
"Yeah, looks like." T-Dog replied.
"There." Morales pointed spotting Sheriff and Glenn on the street. Thunder began to rumble.
"That asshole is out on the street with the handcuff keys?" Merle asked, getting angry.
T-Dog gave Merle a look then showed he had the key to un-cuff him. Merle looked at him with rage.
"T, what are you doing? Time is of the essence here." Suzy said, "If you have the key then un-cuff him so we can get out of here."
"Oh I will. Just not yet." T-Dog replied, "I think he can wait a bit longer."
After a few minutes rain started falling. This was not a good thing for the Sheriff and Glenn down below.
"Oh man." Morales said, feeling just as worried with everyone else. The thunder got louder. "It's just a cloud burst, We get them all the time. It'll pass real quick."
"How fast is real quick?" Suzy spoke up, still standing next to Merle. "They don't have time, the smell will wash off."
The group watched as the two just managed to make it over the gate to the truck. The group had no time.
"They're leaving us." Andrea panicked.
"What? What?" Merle asked, confused.
"No, no, come back." Andrea begged. Another few minutes passed until Glenn's voice finally appeared on the radio.
"Those roll-up doors at the front of the store facing the street-meet us there and be ready." Glenn ordered. And just like that, everyone gathered their stuff in a hurry and began running for the staircase.
"Come on! Let's go, let's go!" Morales shouted.
"Hey, you can't leave me here!" Merle shouted. "I'm not fooling man! Morales! Hey, man! Don't do this!""
Suzy stopped, realizing she was panicking and running like everyone else. She dropped her stuff and went back to Merle, who was still handcuffed to the pipe.
"Morales! Andrea!" Suzy shouted, kneeling by the cuffs. Whether she liked it or not, she still owed him and didn't have it in her to run too.
"Hey, that's my gun, Morales! You can't leave me!" Merle continued as the group left down the staircase one by one. Suzy saw T-Dog freeze near the door, not sure of what to do.
"Don't leave me here, you guys!" Merle cried. Andrea called for Morales to hurry.
"We gotta go." Morales said to T-Dog leaving the scene.
"Morales! You can't leave me like this man!" Merle shouted.
"T, come on!" Suzy shouted, panicking, seeing T-Dog still standing there.
"Hey, T-Dog. No man. You can't leave me man!" Merle pleaded to T-Dog. "You can't leave me here, not like this. You can't man, it's not human! Come on, don't do this!" Merle begged so hard, he could've cried.
"T! Will you quit standing there! Help, please!" Suzy cried at the top of her lungs. She couldn't understand why he was taking so long to help. Every minute counts and now all three of them risked getting left behind.
T-Dog groaned and began running over to Merle and Suzy with key in his hand and knocking a tool box over in the process. As he ran over, Suzy found herself trying to sprint over for the key as T-Dog took it out of his pocket. Next thing she knew, they both tripped and the key flew from T-Dog's hand. The key bounced a few times on a rim, then fell down a drain, simultaneously Suzy hit her head on the concrete rooftop floor, immediately blacking out.
"You son of a bitch!" Merle shouted at T-Dog. "You did that on purpose! Look what you did!"
"It was an accident!" T-Dog shouted back. Before picking himself back up from his own fall, he tried shaking Suzy awake, but she wouldn't budge. She had a clear head injury from the amount of blood coming out of her head from the fall. He was about to throw her over his shoulder until he thought of something. Blocking out Merle continuing to scream at him, he whispered into Suzy's unconscious ear.
"Save him." He pleaded.
He picked himself up and ran to the door as Merle continued to shout at him that he was going to rot in hell and to not leave him. T-Dog apologized over and over but it was no use. Before sprinting down the stairs, he decided to chain the door shut with a padlock so the two wouldn't be attacked by the incoming herd of dead. He ran down the steps, desperately screaming for the group not to leave him, the same thing Merle was continuing to scream at the rooftop above...
Suzy saw herself surrounded by biters in the woods. As quick as she could, she grabbed one of her throwing knives from her belt and whipped it at one of their heads. Another one got too close, so she kicked it away as hard as she could and tossed another knife. No matter what she did, there seemed to just be more and more coming. As soon as she killed another coming at her from the front, she ran for it as fast as she could. It riled the crowd of them up more, having the group of biters try to quicken their own pace to catch her.
She felt so out of breath and exhausted, she wasn't sure if she had anymore strength to keep running. Her lungs were already burning, begging for her to stop. She could still hear the moans and groans getting closer from behind. As she stumbled in her run, she pulled out her .38 and shot down two of them. Before she could turn back around, she felt herself slam into another body. She immediately raised her gun to shoot it, but she hesitated when she heard the figure laugh. Gazing up to see his face, she saw he was indeed alive and playfully raising his hands in surrender. He was an older man with a cocky grin, wearing jeans, a gray wife beater, and black vest. He was probably a guy that was super into bikes, she figured. Compared to herself, a little girl in her mid-twenties with short black hair who never rode a motorcycle in her life.
"Whoa, whoa now. Easy there, darlin'." He chuckled, "I ain't one of your lil' biters. But shit there are a bunch behind ya."
"Yeah, like I didn't notice." Suzy replied. She turned around to shoot down another walking corpse then another. When she went to shoot again, all she heard was a click to say she was out of bullets. Right, only four left, she thought. Thinking quick, she pulled out her hunting knife and began trying to stab every single one left in the head.
"Yeah, that's right. Get 'em, girl." The man laughed and watched the scene in front of him as if it were actual entertainment. She didn't have time to pay mind to whoever this was at the moment to really care.
Her body was ready to give out, she could feel it. Another biter took her off guard when it managed to pin her to a tree, making her drop her knife onto the ground. It's rotting face got so close to her with its teeth chomping, trying to take a good chunk out of her. She tried pushing the body away as hard as she could, but felt herself losing the battle quickly. Just when she felt her arms ready to give out, a gunshot to the biter's head made it fall to the ground. She looked to her left and saw the stranger holding a rifle in his hand.
"Grab your knife, girly. I got ya." He said, shooting down another one.
She dropped to her knees, scrambling to find her knife in the pile of leaves. Once she found it, she stood and stabbed the next biter she could in the head. The stranger had decent aim, especially with the scope on the gun, so none of the biters could get near him. Together, they ridded the crowd of dead so quickly, they didn't even know what hit them. The last one coming from the trees, Suzy grabbed one of her throwing knives and tossed it. It perfectly got the corpse in the forehead, making the body drop with the others on the forest floor. Suzy found herself panting in exhaustion yet also relief from the ordeal.
"Oh hell yeah, look at us." The man cheered, holding his rifle in the air, "Now that's what I'm talkin' about."
"Thanks." Suzy said to the stranger. She put her hunting knife back in its holster on her belt.
"Ay, it's no problem. I couldn't have those things getting back to my camp. That would've been no good. They definitely heard the shots, though." He replied as she went to grab her other knife out of the dead biter's forehead. Little did she know, he was eyeing her up and down the entire time while biting his lip, "What's your name, girl?"
"Susan Davis." She said. "But anyone I've known just calls me Suzy. You?"
"Dixon, Merle Dixon." He replied, stepping closer, "But anyone I've known just calls me Merle."
"You-You said you have a camp nearby?" She asked.
"Mhm, right up the mountain. Why? You interested in going up and checking it out?" Merle smirked.
"I don't know. Is it safe?"
"Maybe." He chuckled, "Is it just you out here?"
"Yeah." Suzy frowned, thinking of Maggie. "Just me now."
"Then I think we can work somethin' out. 'Cuz after all this," Merle gestured to the dozen bodies on the ground, "I say you owe me."
"Yeah, I do." Suzy looked him in the eye, "Take me to your camp and I promise you. When the time comes for me to save your ass, I'll do it."
Merle smiled a conceded grin in return, "Sounds good to me. Let's go."
Merle Dixon...She already knew he was quite a trip. Why did she have to be indebted to this person of all others left in the world? Now they were both trapped on a rooftop with no way out...What were they to do now?