Out of the Woods (The Walking Dead)
Just Survive Somehow:
Suzy sat in the middle of the bathroom floor. She had her knees to her chest, rocking back and forth as her heart felt like it was about to literally pound out of her chest. If Merle was next to her right in that moment, she knew he would be able to hear it. She tried desperately to catch her breath.The sound of gunshot after gunshot rang in her ears. The smoke clouded her lungs. So many voices screaming...
"I'm sorry," She whispered, her voice shaking just as much as the rest of her, as to not wake Merle up. She cried as silently as she could, "I'm sorry."
She didn't know why she couldn't stop thinking about it today. She tried, but then that nightmare solidified there was no escape from the constant reminder. The reminder of what happened that day..People dying then coming back as those things...Monsters...The gunfire only drew in more. This was the end. This was no sanctuary. It was hell...
It had been two weeks since Suzy and her family arrived in Charleston. The camp was on a University campus being run by what seemed to be the last of the military. To Suzy's mom, Nancy, this meant there was hope; Hope that everything could go back to normal as if the dead never resurrected and began eating the living. Suzy didn't hesitate to share her thoughts of doubt on that hope.
"I'm sure she's just trying to stay optimistic," Enid smiled.
Enid was a young girl, about thirteen or fourteen years old. She had seen Suzy trying to brush up on her knife throwing in the training yard of the campus. It was an area mainly for target practice for guns by the soldiers since no one else in the camp was allowed to have guns. Living in an apartment in the city meant not being able to practice all that much with the knife throwing. The second young Enid caught glimpse of Suzy's cool knives, she insisted she should learn too.
"I know," Suzy replied, "That's what's so annoying about it."
"It wouldn't kill you to have some of that optimism yourself, you know."
"First, fix your form and use more wrist, less elbow," Suzy commented after Enid threw a knife at the target and missed. "Second, it's the fact that it's fake optimism. She knows the world's over. She just can't admit it yet. That's what makes it annoying."
Enid tossed another following Suzy's instructions. She gasped in amazement when she watched it land straight into the center.
"Whoa! I actually did it!" Enid grinned, "I don't know how you do that every single time."
"Half of it alone is having a good aim," Suzy said, "Other half is form and taking a leap of faith you'll make it go where you want."
"That is so cool." Enid replied, "Should I try another one?"
"Sure, go for it." Suzy removed the knives from her belt and looped them around Enid's. "Let's see how you do."
Before Enid could pick up the next knife, a scream made the two of them turn in a startle. A girl, Angelina, came pacing through the gate with the other troops behind her. Angelina was a part of the military group in charge of the camp and had been helping Suzy learn more about guns since she wasn't used to shooting them. Tobias, the soldier that had originally greeted Suzy and her family at the gate followed behind her, trying to talk her down.
"Keep at it," Suzy said to Enid. She then made her way over to find out what was going on. As she got closer, she heard Tobias trying to console her, but obviously none of it was working. By the time Suzy made it over, Angelina left to go hide in her room.
"Hey," Suzy called out, "What's going on? Something happen on your run?"
"Yeah," Tobias frowned, "While we were out, a huge group of dead ones came through, like a huge amount. It was more than I had ever seen. We tried fighting it, and you know how she is about killing them."
"Yeah, but no one likes it. But they're dead."
"Right, but-" Tobias replied, "She-One of the dead ones was her mom."
"Oh..." Suzy frowned at the realization, "I can't imagine seeing something like that."
"Yeah...She couldn't do it. She tried, but I don't know. She couldn't bring herself to do it. Then it went after her, and I shot it down so quick, I didn't even think about it. Now she's pissed at me."
"She's pissed because you saved her?" Suzy asked.
"She's pissed because she thinks I killed her mom. At the same time she's pissed at herself because she knows it had to be done but-"
"But wishes it didn't have to be done in the first place." Suzy finished his sentence.
"Yeah." Tobias frowned, "I tried telling her I was sorry, but she didn't want to hear any of it."
"Well, Lucy and I have grown a bit of a friendship. Maybe we can go talk to her?"
"Maybe it's best we leave her alone for now. Let her process everything."
Suzy decided to find Angelina's room to check on her. Tobias didn't think that was the best idea, but she figured she'd rather let Angelina know there were people there for her than leave her alone to process by herself. Once she found her room, she made sure to knock gently.
"Angelina?" Suzy spoke, "Are you okay?"
Through the door, she could hear Angelina on the other side crying. The door was unlocked, she noticed, but she didn't want to come in unless Angelina said she wanted her to.
"Can I come in?" She asked.
"Please go away," Suzy heard her say. She nodded and decided to leave it at that. Angelina could come out when she was ready. She didn't want to pry further.
"Okay," She said, "I'll come check on you later."
On the other side of the door, Angelina sat there with the most defeated look on her face. She reached into her pocket and pulled out something she had picked up on the run. The General said the camp was low on medicine, so she took it upon herself to gather as much as she could. Little did the rest of the group know, she snuck away an extra bottle of pain killers for her frequent headaches. Only now she had to see her mom as a walking undead corpse trying to eat the flesh from her bones.
The image kept replaying again and again in her mind. Those lifeless eyes, that gut-wrenching snarl, and the way her mom's cold hands had grabbed her...When those things repeated in her mind again, she almost didn't even notice herself opening the bottle and dry swallowing at least half the bottle. She got up to go lie in her bed, not before grabbing the bottle of water at her bedside to assist in her consuming the rest of the bottle of pain killers. This was it. There was no sanctuary...This was the end of the world...
Suzy sat in her own dorm room down the hall, a room just big enough to fit her and her family. It was smaller than the apartment back in New York, but a roof was a roof nonetheless.
"Back already?" Lucy said as she came out from her room, "Thought you were supposed to train Enid a while longer."
"I let her do some by herself." Suzy replied, "Some of those soldiers came back from their run and now Angelina won't come out of her room."
"Dang, I hope she's okay." Nancy sighed from the corner kitchen. Her voice was quiet as a church mouse, making it unlikely either of them heard her.
"What happened?" Lucy asked.
"I'd rather not talk about it." Suzy said.
"You think she'll turn me away if I go check on her?"
"Probably, but don't let me stop you."
"I'll be right back." Lucy left to go down to the end of the hall.
"I almost have dinner ready." Nancy spoke up. Suzy looked up at her mom, guilt sweeping over her. She remembered back when she was an edgy teenager when her dad died. She did nothing but lash out and blame her mom for what happened. Of course now that she was older, she knows it wasn't actually her mom's fault. It was an accident. She remembered how mean she was, how mean she could still be. She also remembered how she never actually gave an apology for the kind of person she used to be. But knowing how Nancy was, she knew there wasn't any true ill will in her heart. She understood why Suzy was that way.
"Mom?" Suzy said. Hearing about what Angelina went through really struck a chord with her. That scenario was something that could be real for her too, and that frightened her. Would it be weird if she said she was sorry right now? She stood up to say something, but she couldn't find the words.
"What?" Nancy asked.
Suzy simply smiled and shook her head, "Nothing. Um, where's Maggie?"
"She's napping in your bed." Nancy replied, "I hope that's okay.
"Yeah, of course. I'll wake her once we're ready to have dinner."
Lucy walked down the hall until she found Angelina's room. She hesitated then gave a soft knock on the door.
"Angelina?" She said, "It's Lucy. I heard about the run. I just wanted to make sure everything's okay."
Since she didn't receive an answer, she put her ear to the door to try hearing if she was awake and crying or doing something else. She noticed it was dead silence.
"Angelina?" Lucy said again and gave another knock, "Are you okay?"
When she put her hand on the knob in attempt to turn it, she noticed it was actually unlocked. She took it upon herself to open the door and peek inside. Not seeing anything at first, she opened the door enough for her to step in. Not too far away, she saw Angelina's bed with her lying in it. She must have had fallen asleep. Seeing that must be the case, she went to leave, until something in specific caught her eye. Doing a double take, she noticed a one hundred count pill bottle on the floor beside the bed, open. Not only was it open, it was empty. Lucy rushed over to her bedside to try shaking her awake.
"Angelina! Angelina! Wake up!" Lucy said, panic in her voice. She shook her a few more times and kept calling her name. Unfortunately there was absolutely no response.
"Oh my god-" Lucy inspected Angelina's face. She looked like she was only asleep, only her lips were blue. She put her ear to her chest to find a heartbeat. For good measure, she also checked her pulse on her neck then her wrist in case she wasn't listening hard enough.
"What do I do? Oh god, what do I do? Doctor-" Lucy said, almost freezing in fear, "We need a doctor!"
As she was trying to call for help, she wasn't able to notice Angelina's eyes open. Only they weren't the same hazel eyes as before. They were gray and washed away of any life that had been inside her before. She let out an undead moan, drawing back the attention of Lucy who was still at her bedside.
"Holy shit-" Lucy gasped in horror. Her eyes widened at the sight of Angelina's now undead self lunging towards her. Lucy quickly backed up and went to reach for her knife. It was then she realized she didn't have her knife on her. She didn't have a gun either. What was she to do now?
Angelina growled and lunged again, reaching her cold hands out to grab Lucy's arm. Lucy screamed as loud as she could and tried to push Angelina's body off of her. She wrestled her as best as she could, letting out a cry in pain doing so. Once she was able to push Angelina's undead body away, she used the opportunity to kick her in the stomach over and over to keep her back. Once she felt like she had kicked her back enough, she scrambled to her feet and ran to the door, just making it before Angelina could escape into the hall with her.
Lucy stood at the door frozen at what just happened. She could hear Angelina thumping against the other side of the door trying to get out. Finding her footing again, she ran right back to their dorm room to find Suzy. She burst through the door, startling Suzy.
"What's wrong?" Suzy immediately asked. She noticed Lucy's panting and how much she was sweating, "What happened?"
"Angelina, she-" Lucy panted, "She's dead."
"What?" Suzy gasped.
"And-The strangest part is..." Lucy looked Suzy dead in the eye, "She turned. She became one of the monsters."
"So she got bitten out on the run?"
"That's the thing. I don't think so." Lucy caught her breath, "I didn't see any bite, and I saw an empty pill bottle next to her bed. She took them all and died in her sleep."
"Wait, so what are you saying right now?" Suzy said, "Even though she wasn't bit...She turned?"
"Yeah." Lucy replied.
"You're sure?"
"Yeah. I'm sure." Lucy said, "What does this mean?"
"I thought everyone said the bite is what does it," Nancy said, "Does this mean that's not true? That whatever this is is airborne?"
"Your guess is as good as ours." Suzy replied. Just then there was a knock at their door. "What here, guys."
Suzy took it upon herself to answer the door. She was surprised when she saw it was Tobias.
"What's up?" Suzy asked, confused as to why he was here. Did he know about what happened?
"Community meeting on the football field." Tobias said, "General's orders, sorry."
"No problem." Suzy nodded, "We'll be right there."
Immediately after shutting the door, she told Nancy to stay in the dorm with Maggie while she and Lucy went to this "meeting". They must have found Angelina's reanimated body. There was no other explanation for this sudden meeting. The two made their way to the football field, which thankfully wasn't far from their dorm building.
"Hey," Suzy heard Enid's voice approaching. When she looked over she saw Enid approaching with all her knives on her belt, "Here's your knives back."
"Thanks, kid." Suzy replied, putting her knives securely back on her front and clipped the belt closed. "Are your parents coming with you for this meeting?"
"I'm sure they'll be around once we get there." Enid replied.
"Okay," Suzy nodded, "Then stick close to us."
Suzy, Lucy, and Enid made it to the crowd on the football field. At the front of the crowd was a stage with a podium in the center with General Johnson standing behind it. Beside him was Tobias and a few other soldiers. Suzy noticed soldiers lined up at the perimeter of the crowd except for the back where she stood with Lucy and Enid. She didn't remember the last meeting they had being organized this way. Perhaps it was the circumstances surrounding Angelina.
"May I have everyone's attention, please?" General Johnson spoke into the microphone, "Thank you."
He took a breath before continuing, "Just a short while ago, our Lieutenant discovered Angelina Burbage in her room. She was found deceased from what seems to be an intentional suicide by overdose."
The crowd murmured, sighs of sympathy echoing in Suzy's ears. Just like Lucy said, she thought.
"However," The General continued, "Her body was found to be reanimated. Once she was put down we examined for any sign of physical contact with the dead. We haven't found such evidence, and it is clear a bite or scratch was not the cause of death."
That was when the crowd erupted in gasps and questions. Questions like, "what does this mean?", "Is it airborne now?", "was it always airborne?", "Does this mean anyone can be infected?" The General called for everyone to quiet down so he could continue speaking. He paused for another intake of breath, like he was trying to hide his own nervousness of the situation.
"This seems to confirm the theory that we received from the CDC, that this disease is airborne. It's not the bite that does it, or at least not the only thing that causes the reanimation process." He sighed, "Troops in other states executed the same order that was given if there was evidence to confirm the theory." He sighed again, "It's clear there is still so little we know about this disease and how it works. I'm sorry folks, but we must decontaminate the camp to assure there is no one else infected so we can put a halt to the spread."
Suzy looked around at the people asking what that meant, the troops on the stage and the troops surrounding them. She took a sharp intake of breath as her heartbeat quickened. When she grabbed Lucy and Enid's hands, that was when the shooting started. The sound of gunshot after gunshot rang in her ears. So many voices screaming behind her. She ran with Enid and Lucy at her side. Gunshots trailed behind them, trying to catch up. As soon as they made it to the first building, they used the cement wall for cover.
"My-My parents!" Enid gasped for air, "I need to find them! We need to get out of here!"
"Enid," Suzy said, "Grab what you can and meet us outside the entrance. Remember the car the group of soldiers came back in from their run? That's our best shot. Find your parents if you can, but don't go back to that field. If we're not at the gate, don't wait for us. Get out of the city and meet us at the Virginia border. Understand?"
"Yes," Enid cried, "What if we don't make it?"
"We will," Suzy assured her and handed her the hunting knife from her belt, "Just survive somehow, okay? Can you do that?"
Enid nodded, "I'll try."
The gunshots got closer, meaning soldiers were now chasing after all those who managed to run away from the field. Suzy let Enid go ahead first away from the shots, her and Lucy following after. Her mom...Maggie, she had to go get them. The smoke from all the gunfire clouded her lungs as they ran to their dorm building. They ran inside and up the stairs to the second floor then down the hall to their room. When they got inside, Nancy held her arms up in surrender. When she noticed it was them, she sighed in relief.
"Oh thank god," Nancy ran over to hug Suzy, "I can hear the gunfire from here! What's happening?"
"Their 'decontaminating' the camp to stop the illness from spreading," Suzy said, "We need to get out of here. Now!"
Suzy and Lucy grabbed their bags while Nancy rushed over to the bedroom to wake little Maggie.
"Maggie, sweetie-" Nancy said as calmly as she could, "Come on. We need to get up to go now."
"Go where?" Maggie's tired voice said as she slowly awoken.
"We're gonna go on a trip downstairs." Nancy replied, picking her up, "Let's go. It's okay, there's no reason to be afraid."
Lucy peeked out the door, realizing the soldiers were now entering the halls, opening the doors to shoot whoever was inside. Lucy quickly shut the door and locked it. For good measure, she even pulled a table chair over to place under the knob.
"They're coming," Lucy said quietly.
"Who's coming?" Maggie asked.
"Come on," Suzy went over to the bedroom and gestured for everyone to get inside. Once they were in, she shut and locked that door as well. "The window."
Suzy rushed over to open the bedroom window by what was her bed. Once she got it open, she took Maggie so she could have her mom go first.
"You first, then I'll have you help Maggie down." Suzy said. Just then they heard someone banging on the front door, trying to break it down. "Hurry, we don't have much time."
"Okay." Nancy said and carefully crawled out the window and jumped down.
"Aunt Suzy, I'm scared-" Maggie said, hearing the banging on the door getting louder. After one more bang, they heard the chair slide across the room, meaning they had officially broke inside.
"There's no time to be scared right now, okay?" Suzy said, "We need to be brave. Don't worry, mammy Nancy is down there to catch you."
Suzy helped Maggie get out the window. Lucy and Suzy heard them now banging on the bedroom door.
"Okay, you need to jump. She'll catch you!" Suzy tried to keep a calm voice with no panic, but hearing the banging of them trying to get in only made her feel more and more afraid. Maggie still wouldn't budge. Suzy sighed, trying to calm herself, "You have to jump now, please! It'll be okay."
The banging got louder to where they made a crack in the door. Suzy continued begging Maggie to jump until Maggie finally shut her eyes and jumped from Suzy's arms. Nancy caught her at the bottom, making Lucy the next to jump.
"Wait, you should go first," Lucy said, backing up from the window.
"Don't be crazy, get out of here." Suzy replied.
"There's no time to fight about it, okay?" Lucy sighed, "Just go."
"What is this about?" Suzy asked. Another bang on the door and the whole thing was coming down. "I'm not leaving without making sure all of you make it out, so go."
Suzy grabbed Lucy's hand and pulled her back towards the window. Lucy finally accepted Suzy wasn't going to take no for an answer, so she did as she said and crawled out the window. Once she did, the door officially came down.
"Go!" Suzy shouted at Lucy. Lucy immediately jumped, joining Nancy and Maggie at the bottom.
"Freeze!" Suzy heard Tobias's voice behind her when she went for the window. She put her hands up in the air and slowly turned around.
"Tobias, please-" Suzy said with her hands visibly shaking in fear. She made sure to look him in the eye as uncomfortable as she was doing it. Tobias just stared back with his machine gun pointed at her. She begged, fighting the urge to cry, "Please don't do this."
Little did Suzy know, Tobias had yet to shoot a single civilian. Despite the orders, he couldn't find it in himself to shoot innocent people that obviously weren't sick. He thought he could do this one, but it being Suzy he had to shoot made it feel impossible. Now that she was standing there afraid and looking into her eyes, he knew he couldn't do it.
"It's just like what you told Enid, remember?" Tobias said, lowering his gun, "Just survive somehow."
"Yes," Suzy nodded, her entire body still shaking. What was he doing? He then reached for the .38 on his belt, making Suzy gasp in fear until she saw him put it to his own head. He shot himself right there, making her belt out a screeching scream as his blood splattered all over the bed and the walls. She stood frozen for a moment, her brain not able to figure out what she should do next. She could still hear other soldiers in the halls. Getting her thoughts together, she rushed over to grab the .38 from his hand and stick it in her own belt. Hearing more of them coming in to make sure the room was clear, she grabbed his machine gun and bolted out the window.
Suzy landed on her side, making her cry out in pain.
"We heard the shot and got so worried they killed you," Nancy said, helping her stand.
"They're coming!" Lucy cried.
The gunshots drew more of the dead from the city, and whoever wasn't shot in the head started coming back to join them. Suzy handed Lucy the machine gun so she could start shooting down the crowd of undead to create a pathway. Suzy took out one of her knives and tossed it at one then had Nancy and Maggie run ahead of her. She grabbed her knife out of its head and they ran together down the campus. They could still hear the gunfire and screaming around them.
There was so much smoke now. They stayed huddled together to try not being separated. Lucy shot down one after the other while Suzy used one of her knives to start stabbing them herself instead of throwing them. As they pushed through, they could see the gate with the car Suzy talked about to Enid. She didn't see Enid or her parents anywhere. Maybe they got out, she thought.
"We're almost there!" Suzy said, stabbing another walker. A loud growl from behind them made her turn around startled. She heard her mom scream as a biter lunged and grabbed Nancy by her arm. It bit her so quick, none of them could process it fast enough. Suzy stared in horror, feeling her mind shutting down again, at a loss of what to do. Her mom's screaming pierced her ears to where it was painful to hear. When Suzy stabbed it in the head, it didn't matter because a bunch more came to feast on the smell of fresh blood. Nancy screamed as they took hold of her. She let go of Maggie so she could run to Lucy who was shooting down walkers ahead to create the rest of the pathway.
"I have it clear!" Lucy called out, "Let's go!"
Suzy reached out, grabbing hold of her mom's hand. She didn't know whether to scream, cry, or let them take her too. Nancy screamed in agony, but still found it in herself to let go of Suzy's hand so she may get away safely. She watched a whole group of them tear her apart, ripping into her stomach and pulling out her intestines to chew on. They tore the skin from her face with their teeth alone. Suzy reached for the .38 and pointed it, her hand shaking like a leaf once again. Even though she knew she should, it still felt so wrong. She wanted to tell her how sorry she was for everything, but there was no time for any of that now. She aimed as well as she could and took the shot, landing clean in her mom's brain.
Lucy called for Suzy again, shooting down one that was coming right for her. Suzy turned and ran towards her and Maggie. They ran for the car, the key thankfully still in the ignition. Lucy hopped in the driver's seat while Maggie got in the back. Once Suzy shut the door in the passenger seat, Lucy started the car and they drove off as fast as she could.
"The monsters-" Maggie said in a surprisingly more neutral tone than expected, "They killed mammy, didn't they?"
Suzy couldn't find it in herself to speak. She simply stared off into space with her mouth agape. She didn't shed a single tear. Lucy glanced over at her.
"I'm sorry, Suzy." She said. Suzy still didn't react. It didn't even seem like she could hear them speaking to her. Lucy nodded in understanding, deciding it might be best to leave her alone for now and allow her to process what just happened.
Lucy then winced in her seat as she drove, her hands clenching the wheel as tight as she could. She recalled when she found Angelina reanimated. She looked down at her side, seeing the blood starting to peek through her shirt. Since Suzy refused to leave her in the dorm, she knew she would have to tell her at some point. But she just lost her mom. When would the right time be? Did a "right time" even exist anymore, especially for something like this?
I'm sorry, Suzy, Lucy thought, I'm sorry...