I woke up and realized I wasn't on the roof anymore. There was a terrible odor that I couldn't shake from my nose, too.
"Guys, she's awake!" a voice called out.
I looked to my right and collapsed onto the ground, finally finding the source to the disgusting smell. The group was surrounding a mutilated body, Rick and Glenn covered in blood and guts.
"It's not what you think," Glenn called out to me with a half-smile.
"You mean you're not bathing in some dead guy's innards?" I asked back, choking on the smell.
He chuckled. "Okay, so maybe it is."
Rick took a few steps towards me but I held up a hand to stop him, my nose wrinkling.
"I'm going to puke if you come near me," I told him.
"How's your head?" he asked worriedly.
"Hurts more than anything I've ever felt before," I told him honestly.
"What were you even thinking?" Rick asked. "Why did you jump into that?"
I shrugged. "Gut reaction?"
Rick frowned at me.
"You're both dumbasses," Glenn called out.
"What are you doing?" I asked, eyeing the gore him and Glenn were covered in. "And where is that crazy guy?"
"There's a truck out there that could get us all out of here. Glenn and I are going to try to get to it so we can all escape. We'll end up back at their camp after, safe and sound," Rick told me.
"And the guy?" I asked, brows raised.
Rick sighed. "I had to handcuff Merle to a pipe. He was a danger to the group."
"You were out for quite a while," Andrea told me, taking a few steps in my direction. "By the way…I'm sorry for earlier. Holding you at gun point."
I gave her a half smile. "I get why you did it."
I watched as the group went back to work, feeling useless with nothing to do. Once they had been sufficiently covered in blood and gore, I followed the group back to the backroom where Glenn, Rick and I had first entered the building in.
"Be careful," I called after the two of them, Rick turning back to me and giving a slight nod.
The man I'd still yet to learn the name of opened the door for the both of them, and then they were outside, ambling forward as if they were walkers. As soon as they were out the man shut the door behind them.
Immediately we raced to the roof, the man who'd let them out suddenly brandishing a pair of binoculars. We all leaned over the side of the building trying to find where they were.
"There," the man with the binoculars pointed.
My eyes followed and I spotted the two of them walking alongside the walkers. I was surprised that they didn't even notice them.
"That assholes on the street with the keys?"
I turned around to see the guy known as Merle handcuffed to a pipe just as Rick had said. I watched as T-Dog pulled a key from his pocket and waved it in front of Merle's face. Merle looked ready to kill him. T-Dog then put the key back into his pocket and tried the radio again, trying to let their camp know that our group was trapped by a bunch of walkers.
I could hear thunder in the distance and a thought struck me.
"If it rains, isn't that going to just wash off the blood?" I asked.
Nobody answered, though the same thought was obviously crossing the group's mind now as well.
We watched for a few more minutes, my stomach tied in knots. I kept an eye on the dark clouds that were quickly moving overhead. It wasn't long until drops started to fall, and then it picked up.
"Come on, come on," I whispered to myself as I watched their slow progress in the pouring rain.
Suddenly they started fighting their way through the walkers, the blood having been washed off from the rain. They managed to jump a fence though, Rick standing on top of a car and shooting a few of them trying to make it over the fence as Glenn searched for keys. I turned away unable to watch.
Moments later I heard a triumphant exclamation from Andrea, only for her to start panicking.
"They're leaving us!" She shouted.
"No, Rick wouldn't do that," I assured her.
We waited in silence for a while, holding our breaths. Glenn's voice suddenly came over the radio telling us that Rick was coming for us and where to meet him.
"Let's go, let's go!" the man I didn't know the name of called out.
Everyone began grabbing their bags and throwing them back onto their shoulders, racing for the exit off the roof.
"Hey, you guys can't leave me here!" Merle called out.
I paused, turning back to the man pleading for his life, but Andrea grabbed me and dragged me down the stairs before I could do anything. Part of me started to feel guilty, but she wouldn't let go of my arm.
We made our way into what looked like a garage and a few of us grabbed onto a chain that would lift the metal door.
"What's that sound?" Andrea whispered.
Everyone grew quiet, listening.
"Sounds like a car alarm…" I muttered.
Suddenly there were two sharp knocks on the metal door and we began to pull the chain. Rick was on the other side, waiting for us. We threw our bags in, Rick catching them and tossing them into the back of the truck before rushing to the driver's seat again. All of us quickly began climbing into the back of the truck just as a swarm of walkers started making their way towards us. Rick stepped on the gas, and the guy I hadn't gotten the name of quickly shut the back of the truck door, securing us inside.
I felt myself suddenly relax, Andrea somehow still clutching onto my arm. I began looking around the back of the truck, realizing something as I heard T-Dog mention that he had dropped the key, meaning Merle was still stuck on the roof.
"Where's Glenn?" I asked.
Rick glanced back at me before answering. "He distracted the walkers, stole a Mustang and broke the alarm. He's meeting us back at their camp."
I felt myself relax at his words. At least he was alright.
"So who are you?" Andrea asked suddenly.
"My name's Isabell," I told her, eyeing the group. "And that's Rick. I don't think I got all of your names."
Andrea spoke up and pointed out each person, introducing the two I didn't know as Morales and Jacqui.
"What the hell were you doing riding into Atlanta on a horse, firing off shots like that?" T-Dog asked.
"I'm looking for my family. My wife and son," Rick spoke up from the driver's seat.
"We woke up in a hospital maybe thirty miles from here just a few days ago. We had no idea what was going on," I added.
"How could you not know? It's been like this for a few months now," Jacqui said.
"We had both been out of it in the hospital. Rick had suffered from a gunshot wound and I…had been in a car accident. In a coma for two months," I told her. "Suffered a concussion to my head." I wasn't exactly ready to open up about not even knowing who I am to these people.
"No wonder why you went down so quick when Merle hit you," Morales said, nodding at the wound on my head. "Surprised you're still with us right now."
"Why did you even jump into that?" T-Dog asked, looking at me like I was crazy.
"Gut reaction," I said again with a shrug. I still didn't really know why I had done it. I just didn't want Rick to get hurt, though I don't know why I thought I'd be able to do anything about it.
"I can't believe he actually hit you," Andrea suddenly said.
I looked at her. "Why? Cause I'm a woman? He doesn't seem the type to mind hitting a woman now and again."
No one in the truck disagreed with my observation.
"His brother isn't going to be too happy about what happened," Morales said.
I perked up. "That guy has a brother?"
"Yeah, Daryl," Jacqui spoke up. "Not as infuriating as Merle, but still hot headed and he can be an ass. He's not going to take the news too well."
The sound of a car alarm quickly gaining up on us caught our attention.
"That's Glenn," Rick told us.
I stood up in the back of the truck and watched as the red mustang zoomed around us and continued down the road.
"We're not far from the camp now," Morales told us.
It was only a few more minutes before Morales directed Rick where to pull off the road. We were heading up a dirt path for a minute before Rick parked the truck. Jacqui opened the back and everyone started piling out. I turned to Rick for a moment as he sat there while everyone got out.
"We'll find them," I told him reassuringly, gathering that he was upset that our trip to Atlanta had been futile. The refugee camp was a bust.
"Hey you two, how 'bout you come out and meet everyone?" I heard Morales shout.
I gave Rick's shoulder a reassuring squeeze before making my way out of the back of the truck. I walked forward, surprised at how many people I saw gathered around. Now that we weren't in a life and death situation for the first time in the last two days, I began to feel anxious and uncomfortable with everyone staring. I awkwardly caught up beside Rick who looked deep in his own head, but then suddenly someone caught his attention and I noticed the look of recognition sweep across his face. I glanced back and saw a woman and a young boy staring at him, awestruck.
"Oh my God," I whispered, throwing a hand up to my face.
He found his family after all.
Tears welled up in my eyes as I watched the little boy run towards him, shouting for his dad. The boy's mother was following close behind him, still unsure if what she was seeing was real. Rick was crying as he picked up his son and pulled his wife in for an embrace. I noticed Rick kept glancing at a man not too far away and the man was smiling back at him, almost in a sad way.
"Looks like he found them after all," Glenn said, appearing beside me.
I nodded my head, wiping away a tear that had escaped.
"You folks must be hungry," an older gentleman said suddenly. "Let's get a fire going and make some food."
Everyone nodded their consent and soon the sun had dropped and a small fire had been started. I sat next to Glenn as we ate some food out of cans. Beans again for me, but at least it was something.
"So you both woke up in the hospital?" the older man I'd learned was called Dale.
Rick and I exchanged a look before nodding our heads.
"What was that like?" Dale asked.
The entire group around our fire sat completely transfixed. I watched as Rick's wife Lori looked up at him from his shoulder. His son Carl was hugging himself close to his dad's side.
"Disorienting, I guess is the only way to describe it," Rick said, nodding to me. "If Isabell hadn't have found me, I don't know if I'd have been able to keep my mind straight and gotten out." He let out a sigh. "Felt like I'd been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else."
"Mom said you died," Carl spoke up softly.
Rick ran a hand over his son's hair. "She had every reason to believe that."
"They said they were going to medevac you and the other patients to Atlanta," Lori said, glancing over at me with a sad smile. "That never happened."
"Not surprised after Atlanta fell," Rick said. "The hospital looked like it had been overrun." He glanced at the man I'd learned was Shane, Rick's partner back at the station. "Can't tell you how grateful I am for you getting them out."
"There go those words falling short again," Dale said with a half-smile before turning to me. "What were you in the hospital for?"
Everyone's eyes soon turned to me.
"Car accident," I said. "Suffered a serious concussion and was in a coma for a while."
Rick looked at me curiously at how I left out some parts. "She's suffering from amnesia."
I frowned at him, not sure if I had been ready for everyone to question me about it.
A little gasp came from Andrea and her sister.
"Amnesia?" Dale asked. "How so?"
I sighed, staring down at my boots. "I woke up in the hospital, not knowing my name or anything. Still don't." I kicked my foot in the dirt a bit, avoiding everyone's eyes. "I don't really want to talk about it," I said in a quiet voice.
Everyone's attention was pulled off of me when a man at the fire next to us threw another log onto the fire.
"Hey, Ed. Might want to rethink that log," Shane called over to him.
The man known as Ed sat back in his lawn chair. "It's cold man."
"Doesn't change the rules, does it?" Shane called out, getting irritated.
I noticed the older woman and young girl sitting near the man shift uncomfortably.
"We keep the fires to just embers so we can't be seen from a distance," Shane said.
"It's cold. How 'bout you mind your own damn business for once," Ed called back.
Shane suddenly got up and went over to the man, saying something in a low voice that I couldn't make out at this distance. I watched as the older woman quietly got up, her eyes focused on the ground, and pulled the log out of the fire that Ed had just put in. She quickly sat back down, eyes on her feet as Shane stomped the fire out on the log.
I felt my eyes narrow at Ed. I didn't think I was going to like him much.
Once Shane sat back down, Dale suddenly spoke up.
"You given any thought to Daryl Dixon? He won't be happy to hear that his brother was left behind."
"I'll tell him," T-Dog spoke up. "I dropped the key. It's on me."
"I cuffed him," Rick said. "That makes it my fault."
"Guys, it's not a competition," Glenn said. "I don't mean to bring race into this, but it might sound better coming from a white guy."
Having met Merle, I only guessed his brother was similar in that ignorant way and agreed with Glenn.
"I'm not going to hide from what I did," T-Dog said.
"We could lie," Amy offered.
"No, we tell the truth," Andrea said. "Merle was out of control. He even hit Isabell. Something had to be done."
At the news that he had hit me, an uproar grew around the campfire.
"Calm down, I'm alright!" I said, trying to shout over them. The noise was making my head hurt more.
"Merle would have gotten us killed," Andrea finally said. "It was his own fault he got left behind."
"And that's what we tell Daryl?" Dale asked skeptically. "That won't result in a rational discussion. We're going to have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt."
"I chained the door to the roof," T-Dog said. "No geeks could have gotten up there."
"You're saying he's still up there, alive?" I asked suddenly, surprised at my own question.
Truth be told, it wasn't right leaving a man to die like that. I didn't feel good about that, especially if there was a chance he was still alive and he could be rescued.
"Yes," T-Dog answered. "Still alive, handcuffed up there on that roof."