I didn't really get how I was dragged into so many stressful situations. It all started when I was just trying to deliver pizza to an apartment, and then all of a sudden there were people running about, others biting into each other's flesh. Then I met a group, and I thought I was safe. Thought everything will be fine and that all of this will cool over after a week or so. Well, I was wrong there and that week turned into two, then into three, before finally two months passed. But I had a group, everything was fine... right?
Then one day, shit hit the fan, and I along with a few others were stuck in Atalanta, destined to die. Everywhere was surrounded by those geeks. We then find some dude that arrives on a horse, manages to escape with his help and everything's almost perfect. That's till we have to head back to retrieve the racist asshole we left behind on the roof because although he called T. Dog the N-word and me a slur, he's still human. Rick's words, not mine.
Rick saved my life so I owed him one. Allowing myself to get dragged along on this suicidal rescue trip, but then after we head up there and find only a piece of his arm, we continue onward over to our second goal which was the guns Rick dropped. In the end, I was kidnapped and all I could think was 'of fucking course it was me'.
So then 3 things went to shit in just less than a week for me.
Then the whole incident in CDC happened and I felt like my luck is bound to run out sooner or later. As if mocking me, only a few days later I'm one of the people chosen to go on some trip with the mysterious figure called Vi.
I have nothing against the man- or well boy since he's only a few years younger than I am. As far as I can see, he's helped us more than once. Gave us shelter; a hot meal; tended to our wounded and even gave us access to a warm shower.
If anything, I'm grateful to the guy. Sure he's weird with the blood-stained mask, the way he doesn't hesitate to get up and close to a walker, and not to mention the way his eyes scan over everybody with a look that sometimes sends chills down my spine. But then again, he's helped us a lot so what if he's a bit off-putting?
Heck, even Shane seemed to have warmed up to the guy overnight, which confused me and pretty much everyone else. If I recall correctly, wasn't he the one arguing with Rick about us being her? Saying that we shouldn't trust the boy? Now he's backing up the dude, helping him out, and even wanting to sit next to him. It's alarming.
Back to the present, the walkie-talkie we were given by Vi starts making distorted noises, catching the attention of those seated in the RV.
Rick who was closest to the object, grabbed it immediately.
"Yes? Hello?"
"R-Ri-Rick? Rick, is that you?"
"yes yes, it's me dear. Is something wrong? Are you and the others okay? You're not hurt are you?" he rushes over his words, eyes filled with panic.
"I'm- we're fine. I just need to ask Vi something, need to know where the security room is supposed to be. I'm guessing it's down in the basement but there's a lock there and I don't have the key" her husband nods but quickly realizes that she doesn't see it, and replies with an 'okay'.
He stands up and makes his way to the front of the RV where both Vi and Shane were.
I watch the man go before quickly losing interest. Sighing I look towards T. Dog and Andrea opposite me. The door that Rick went through closes and I go to talk to the other two.
"Okay so?" I ask them, which earns me confused looks. I resist the urge to roll my eyes.
"What do you guys think about this whole trip? about Vi? Got anything you wanna tell me 'cause I'm bored and I need some sort of topic to focus on"
"Why'd you only decide to talk once Rick leaves?" T. Dog questions with a raised brow.
"Well, I saw him sitting next to Vi in the morning while coming back from my watch and so I thought I'd question him later after talking to you guys to get your opinions. You know Rick, he isn't really the type to gossip much, especially when it comes to our host. Plus there seemed to be some tension in the air when I passed by them." Andrea hums in thought.
"Well, I think he's a good guy. He's only ever helped us so I don't see any need for us to be wary of him"
"You only say that because he saved your sister" T. Dog points out to which she glares over at him.
"I'm sorry, or have you also forgotten the fact that he took us in, fed us, let us have a warm shower and our own beds-" she's cut off.
"Jenner did the same thing and look how that turned out," T. Dog says with a disgruntled expression. This just makes Andrea scoff.
"That was only after one day. We've been with Vi for four days now and things have been fine" Andrea retorts, and I decide to butt in before they start arguing.
"Well, I'm just wondering about the trouble that's bound to happen on this trip. I doubt that we won't run into anything that won't be a threat and well, it's kind of suspicious that Vi won't tell us what exactly we're here for, right?" before either of the two could bound me with a reply, Rick arrives back with the walkie talkie in hand.
"What you guys talkin' about?" the ex-policeman asks curiously as he makes way to sit back down.
We share a glance at each other before I build up the courage to ask "So uh, what were you and Vi talking about in the morning? Seemed tense"
He seems to tense for a moment, face going grim. This makes everyone uneasy. 'That's not exactly the reaction I was hoping for' I thought to myself as we waited for his reply. He seemed to mull over what to say before bringing a hand to his face.
"Well uh, I was just thanking him for helping us but things started to escalate to another topic... and he told me something that just stuck with me is all" he tried to reassure us but with how little detail he told us about this topic only made us more uneasy.
"Could you maybe clarify what you mean by, topic?" T. Dog asks.
"I don't know... I don't think I would want to share personal conversations between me and our host." I just quirked a brow.
"Personal?" He just sighed in reply.
"Look, I ain't gonna say anything. All you folks gotta know is that it didn't concern you all and was more focused about me." Andrea sends him a worried look but none of us go to push for more answers.
I don't know what exactly's going on with those two but if Rick doesn't want to say anything then I'm not going to divulge further. He's saved both mine and the others' lives enough that I trust him to know what he's doing.
So things passed by quietly, and nobody was in the mood to start small talk. I was looking out the window, staring aimlessly, tired of staying seated all day. It was around the afternoon when we had to stop driving because the road was blocked by a series of cars.
We exited the car, T. Dog whistling at the scene before us.
"Let's loot the cars, see if you find anything worth taking," Vi says with that bland tone of his. He isn't much of a talker, only ever talking when needed to or spoken to. Even then, his voice isn't usually showing much positive emotion unless he's talking softly to the kids, which at first freaked me out at the sudden change in attitude, but then again at least we know that he isn't some heartless shell.
Instead of looting the cars, I tended to the RV using the skills that I was taught by Dale during our time at the camp. Everything was going smoothly, Shane found endless amounts of water and there wasn't a walker in sight. So of course something had to happen.
Someone starts to shout out a warning to everybody, saying there's a mob of walkers headed our way. I panic of course, about to follow Ricks's instructions of hiding under a car before I spot T. Dog bleeding and trying to hide from a walker getting closer to him. I look back at him and then around me, then curse my luck, and make way towards the older man.
"Psss, T. Dog" I whisper over to him, gesturing for him to come my way. He nods, face contorted in pain as he clutches at his arm. I grab him once I'm close enough and push him under a car while saddling up next to him. I sigh in relief but quickly tense up once I see a walker walking past our hiding spot. I hold my breath, glancing next to me at T. Dog to see he's sweating bullets. I bite my lip and try to be as quiet as possible.
Once everything cools over, we get out from under the car and search for everybody else.
Walking closer to them, I find that everybody's okay.
"That" I start gathering everybody's attention "-was terrible." T. Dog snorts.
"Understatement of the year" he gets some chuckles before Shane steps forward.
"So what now Vi? We can probably go around the cars with the RV in tow but I looked at the map and figured this is around the destination... what exactly are we doing here?" he asks, turning to the shorter figure next to him.
"I plan on traveling through the forest. I'm going to map the area, and see if I find any groups out here."
"And us?" Rick asks although not unkindly.
"You guys can split into two groups and do the same, the area is pretty big and we don't know what's out there. There also might be another herd coming around so we have to be quick about this. Just going to stick out here for hopefully a week and then we'll be on our way back."
We all nod as we begin to split into groups, one led by Rick while the other is led by Shane. Which is honestly surprising to nobody. Those two have already taken up leadership, although Rick seems to have more influence compared to the other. Even with the clear tension going on between those two plus Lori, they still seem to get the job done, no matter how awkward it can be whenever they talk to each other. 'Aren't they childhood best friends? Why is there always that weird aura around them' I thought before shaking my head and focusing on the present.
"So T. Dog, Daryl come with me," Ricks says.
"And everyone else with me," Shane says, gesturing for those that weren't called to follow.
I withheld a sigh as I went to follow the short-tempered man. Once again, I have nothing against him. It's just that Rick and I work better together compared to working with Shane. The man intimidates me, with both his stature and his temper.
Shane pauses when he sees Vi not following him. I send a confused look to Andrea who just shrugs. We watch as Shane walks up to the masked boy and they have a chat that we can't hear because of the distance between us. I notice that Rick and his group are already making their way in the forest, some of them waving goodbye which me and Andrea return with our own waves.
Once Shane returns, he doesn't offer us any explanation and just says "Let's go" before making his way to the other side of the forest, farther away from where Rick's group is headed. Glancing back, I find Vi making his way in the forest as well but in a different direction than both groups.
"Where's Vi going?" Andrea asks the large man, fearless as always when faced with any of the men in our group.
"Said he needed to check something out somewhere else. Don't worry 'bout him, he can take care of himself" she seems to want to say more but shuts her mouth. A tense silence falls over the three of us for the rest of the travel.
Maybe it should have been expected. Our group never had the best of luck.
Only about an hour or so out here and then a woman on a horse comes by asking if we know a Rick grimes. She then goes on to quickly explain that one of ours got shot by accident and is currently being tended to at their farm.
"Go forward and once you come across a farm then you've arrived." she ends it at that and goes galloping away on her horse.
I and the other two stood stunned. They were probably still processing the fact that somebody got shot, meanwhile, I'm still thinking about the woman who just left. She was beautiful, sounded confident, and one to cut straight to the point. She had pretty eyes as well...
"C'mon, can't keep the others waiting," Shane says which snaps me out of my previous thoughts.
"R-right," I say a bit flustered, which confused the other two but they didn't make a comment on the sudden strange behavior.
While rushing to get to our location, Andrea asks aloud what we've all been thinking, "Who do you think got shot?".
I grimaced and thought about it for a moment. "Maybe T. Dog?" I reply, which Andrea seems to think over.
"It doesn't matter who ya think got shot. At the end of the day, one of our people is injured, so we need'a make sure to keep our guard up. What we gotta worry about is how the fuck he was shot by accident" he scowled at nothing which had me break into a sweat.
"Uh, I'm sure they weren't looking for trouble..." I try to defuse his anger, knowing I failed when he only looks to get angrier.
"Doesn't fuckin' matter what they were lookin' for. They still hurt one of ours" I just nod nervously.
"Calm down officer, they're going to fix him up so no hard feelings. We can continue the search, but just have them stay back in the RV with maybe one person to stay on watch" Andrea says, not at all looking at the man with any fear unlike me. It was honestly embarrassing how nervous I get around Shane.
Shane seemed to somewhat calm down. He lets out a long sigh before nodding.
"Let's hope they fix'em up. Else there gonna be problems" He glances back at me and I gulp "sorry kid, didn't mean to snap at ya, just pissed at this damn situation."
I just blush in embarrassment and nod again. "No hard feelings sir" I reply with a nervous smile.
Once we arrive at our destination we run up to the house where we find T. Dog and Rick talking outside on the porch. They see us as well and wave for us to come over. Once we make it close enough to talk to each other without screaming, Shane goes to hug Rick.
My eyebrows raise, surprised at the intimate gesture. 'Guess they really were childhood best friends if they're that comfortable with each other' I think to myself as I make my way over to T. Dog who stood to the side.
"What happened?" I ask the man.
"Daryl saw a deer, said it would be good for dinner, walkin' closer to it, and out of nowhere a shot went out, then he's there lying on the floor with blood coming out of the side of his stomach. The shot went through the deer's body before hittin' Daryl so he could've been worse off. The guy who shot him told us to come here to get him checked over so that's what we did" he sighs tiredly.
"It's been a tiring day so far, honestly thought he was bout to die there" I can sympathize with the other man. I look over his arm and finally notice it's bandaged.
"They looked over your arm?" he nods with a tired smile on his face.
"Honestly glad they did, the work I did on my arm wasn't the best and I feel like the woman who checked me over would full-heartedly agree" he chuckles a bit to himself.
I then think about Daryl. Although my thoughts on the man were questionable, with his brother being a racist dick and thinking was he probably the same, turns out he's not. He's one of the reasons we've been able to survive so far, being the main source of food and his great skills with the bow. He's quiet and agile, an important member of our group no matter who he's related to.
So although I don't have any personal connections to the older man, I still feel a tad worried for him. He's a pretty good guy, done nothing but helped us so far.
I was snapped out of my thoughts once an old man among some other people I don't know come outside. The old man starts to talk.
"He's breathing but we don't know if it'll stay like that for long. We don't get the equipment to take out the bullet shards in him, without the proper equipment... I'm sorry but he may die" this caused a series of grim faces.
"So all we gotta do is get you the right equipment then he'll be alright?" Rick asks the man, beads of sweat running down his face. The old man nods hesitantly.
"It will higher the chances of survival, yes" this didn't seem to reassure any of us.
"I'll help them find it. I'm the one who shot him so it's my responsibility" another man who I didn't recognize said, causing the woman next to him who I assume is his wife to send him a worried look.
"Okay, I along with two others will also go," Rick says, looking back at his group to see if anyone plans on volunteering as well.
I sigh and raise my hand "I'll go" I get a curious look from the pretty woman that was sent to tell us what happened and I looked away nervously.
Andrea also raises her hand "I'll also go, not like I got much to do otherwise"
"I'll go lookin' for Vi. Probably gonna go back to the RV so I gotta fill'em in on what happened" Shane says which earns him a nod from his best friend.
"I'll stay and watch over Daryl since I'm not really in the right condition to be moving around much, if that's fine with you all" T. Dog says while turning to the family but mainly the old man, who seemed like the one who called the shots there. The man nods and everyone goes into action, packing up their stuff to get to work.
I'm about to go over to Rick and Andrea but then pause for a second. I take a breath and then turn around, moving towards the short darker haired woman standing not far. She notices me coming toward her and raises a brow.
"Yes?" she asks although looking like she knows what I'm about to ask. I nervously gulp and hold out a hand.
"H- Hi! I'm uh, Glenn. My names Glenn" I curse myself for stuttering in my head but continue to look at her with an awkward smile.
She looks back at me with amusement and nods "Maggie" she reaches out to shake my hand.
"Oh uh, pretty name" I chuckled to myself, hand shaking her hand for a second before we both let go. I stare at her for a second before nodding.
"Nice talking to you Maggie" and I rush off to where Rick and Andrea are waiting. I don't look back and ignore the blush creeping up my neck.
Rick and Andrea send me a knowing look which I brush off. Andrea goes to hit my shoulder with a grin on her face.
"So" she drags out the o. "You got a crush huh?" I blush and shove her away, speeding up my steps and ignoring the laughter from behind me. Rick runs up beside me and chuckles at the two of us. He just smiles at me and I sigh in relief when he doesn't go to tease me, unlike a certain someone. The man who shot Daryl, who he introduces himself as Otis runs up to us to catch up.
"Lead the way Otis"