Out of the Woods (The Walking Dead)
An Important Mission:
Death was a rather peaceful feeling. It was the easiest thing she thinks she's ever done. There was nothing but darkness surrounding her. The pain she felt had been lifted. Now what was there to do? She didn't feel dread yet she didn't feel like she was healed. It was like she didn't feel anything at all anymore.
"I told ya to find a car and go back to that prison," Suzy turned around at the sound of his voice.
"Merle!" She threw her arms around him and squeezed him as tight as she could. She wished she could feel his warmth again. It was comforting. It took him a bit to hug her back.
"That was a stupid thing you did," He said, "Why'd you do that, girl?"
"Do what?" Suzy asked. She didn't recall at first. When she thought about it, she realized what he was talking about. She didn't want to see the disappointed look she knew was on his face right now. She held him tighter and hid her face in his chest.
"I don't know," She whimpered, "I didn't even know it was real until it was done. I lost it."
"What did I always tell you, honey?" Merle pushed her back at arm's length so he could look her in the eye, "I don't want ya to die. You've let everything eat you up from the inside out. You need'ta get it together."
"I can't-" Suzy cried, "I've been out here too long. I don't get to come back. We dont get to come back from this!"
"Bull fuckin' shit," Merle said sternly, "You're better than that, I know you are, girly. I didn't give my life so you could give up yours right after. I did it so you could live a good life."
"That's not fair," said Suzy, "You didn't have to do that. You gave up because you were selfish and afraid! You think you can see right through me and know everything there is to know about me. You can't! You don't know who I was before all this."
"I do know you, girl."
"You don't," She sighed and ducked her head in shame, "This wasn't the first time."
"What?" Merle snapped, "What the hell are you talkin' about?"
"When my dad died-" Suzy wiped the tears from her face, "I turned into this; A sad, bitter, shell of myself. My mom stopped me. I'm weak. I always was. I was never meant to survive."
"Nah," Merle made her look up at him, "You, honey, are a shit ton of things. Weak ain't one of 'em. You get to come back. And you will. You ain't dyin'. Not here. Not now."
"Why not?" Suzy asked, "Why can't I?"
"You got too much left to do," He smiled that familiar smile she adored so much, "Now come on. Get your ass up and do somethin'. Officer Friendly is out there waitin' for ya."
Suzy felt a thump, forcing her brain back to reality. She wasn't dead after all. She was alive, but where was she? She heard tires rolling and the slight shakes from being in the back of some truck. She fluttered her eyes open to see the blue sky above her. There was another thump, this one coming from a small pothole in the road. She looked around, seeing she was in some kind of military truck in the open pickup trunk. That's right. Some of the raiders survived the attack at the camp by the Mississippi River. Were these Frederick's people or that guy Hector? It had to be Hector's. All of Frederick's men were dead. She was sure of that. How many were there? The truck was going too fast for her to consider jumping out. She looked down at her left arm where she remembered carving herself open. Her wrists were tied together with zip ties, big surprise there. They had also stitched and bandaged her wound. It didn't look perfect, per se, but enough to save her life nonetheless.
"Son of a dick, we need gas," She heard a loud and authoritative voice come from inside the truck.
"There were some cars about a mile back," Another voice replied as the truck began slowing down.
"We ain't goin' back," That authoritative man's voice said, "We can make it further and see what's up ahead."
After some back and forth on whether they should go back or not, the man cursed a few times before he gave in and pulled over. Suzy shut her eyes so she could pretend she was still asleep when she heard the doors opening.
"How's the little one doin'?" The man asked.
"We need antibiotics," A woman's voice said. She sounded young, close to Suzy's own age, "Her arm was looking a little inflamed this morning."
Suzy knew they were talking about her. What did they want her alive for? To get her back to their camp and turn her into a slave worker? She had no idea where Hector's camp was. She could make a break for it now that they were pulled over. She heard their conversing about leaving the truck here while one or two of them walk back to where all the cars were. Their plan was to search the cars for medicine, gas, and anything else they could find.
"Josephine," The man's voice said, "Stay here and keep an eye on her. Anything else you need while we're out?"
"Let me check," A different woman's voice, Josephine, hopped up into the back of the truck so she could check their supplies. As soon as she got close and leaned down, Suzy swung her fist at the woman, making her scream in her ear. As fast as she could, Suzy jumped from the truck, broke free of the zip ties, then started running. She heard them shouting she was loose and getting away.
"Whoa now-" The big man with that loud voice grabbed her. He was able to wrap his whole arm around her body to stop her. She screamed and thrashed her body around to try squirming out of this guy's arm. He only held her tighter as he pulled her back over to the truck, "Calm the hell down."
"Let go of me!" Suzy screeched, continuing to kick and scream like a toddler, "Let go of me! Let go! You fucker!"
"Damn she's a fighter, ain't she now!" The man laughed. She kicked, slapped, anything she could to try to make him let go.
She was able to kick him in his groin, making him shout in pain, "Mother dick! Just sit down! No one is gonna hurt you!"
The man tossed her back onto the truck. She slapped away anyone who came over to try restraining her.
"We need to check your bandage," The younger girl said, holding down her arm.
"Don't fucking touch me!" Suzy pushed and slapped them away. She backed up into a corner, realizing she was surrounded by all of them. There were two men and two women. The big man with his loud voice and red hair pointed his gun at her. Once she calmed down a little, he lowered it.
"No one's gonna hurt you," He said sternly, "Unless you do somethin' stupid. I suggest you calm the hell down right now before you kill over."
As Suzy sat there, she realized how lightheaded she felt. It wasn't like she could get a blood transfusion for what she lost. Not to mention the starvation and dehydration she's endured. She went to sit up, only for the adrenaline she had was now gone and she slipped back down.
"That was some right hook," Josephine, a woman appearing to be in her mid to late thirties, gave an awkward chuckle. She had the punch land in her cheek, the area already swelling. She carefully approached Suzy again and gestured for her injured arm. Suzy didn't offer it to her, but reluctantly let her look at it. When she pulled the bandage back, Suzy winced in pain. The stitches didn't look half bad, but they were right when they said it was inflamed. Josephine then put the back of her hand to Suzy's forehead.
"She's burning up. You were right about needing antibiotics," Josephine said to the other girl who was crossing her arms over her chest, "Good part is that the stitches didn't open anywhere."
"I don't remember being your problem," Suzy snapped and snatched her arm back, "So let me go before I do."
"You know," The man said, "Most would say thank you. We saved your life."
"I hate to break it to you, but you're not the first person to save me off the side of the street. So I have shit to thank you for," Suzy hissed, "If that's supposed to convince me to trust you, you got another thing coming."
"You're right, it doesn't," He smiled, "I guess you'll have to stick around and find out."
Suzy gave a sly smirk, "Not happening."
"Regardless," Josephine said, "You lost too much blood. You're severely malnourished and dehydrated. You won't make it three feet on your own."
"Yeah," The other girl said, "So like it or not, you're staying with us."
"Which is good," The man said, "We need more people anyway."
"Need people for what?" Suzy snapped, "More workers for your camp?"
"No. We don't have no camp," He chuckled.
"Then who the hell are you?" Suzy asked.
The man grinned beneath his mustache, "I realize we didn't get a proper chance to introduce ourselves."
He used his gun to gesture to the people in his group one by one, starting with himself.
"I'm Sergeant Abraham Ford, and these are my companions. Dr. Eugene Porter, Rosita Espinosa, and Josephine Hockley. We're on an important mission." He said, "Eugene here is a scientist. We're on a mission to get him to D.C. He knows how to put a stop to all this."
Suzy stared at him for a second before rolling her eyes and went to get herself back up to try running again.
"Hey hey-" Abraham said. He put his hand on her shoulder to force her to sit back down, "Listen. I know you've been out here a while and it might be hard to swallow, but this is real. You must have real skills to have made it this long by yourself. I want you to accompany us to get Eugene safely to D.C. What'd'ya say?"
"I think you're either all delusional as fuck, or god damn liars," Suzy replied, "I'll take my chances."
She went to get up again and Abraham once again made her sit back down.
"I think you're forgetting the fact that we saved your ass," Abraham said, "The least you could do is not be stupid by runnin' off and gettin' yourself killed."
"He's right," The girl, Rosita, said with a smirk, "So again. Like it or not, you're staying with us. At least until you're better."
Suzy glared at each and every one of them. They were full of shit and she knew it. If man-power was something they wanted, they wouldn't have saved her. She was nothing but a pathetic mess who was dying in the middle of the street. They didn't know her. She could've been a psychotic murderer for all they knew. Who were they to make a judgement like that? She didn't ask for the help, nor did she want it.
"Like I've never heard that one before," She looked away from them and curled up in the corner of the truck.
Now that Suzy was awake, Josephine decided it would be best to stay in the back of the truck with her. Not only did she need to be monitored for the sake of her health, but also to make sure she didn't try running away again. What else was new? That's all anyone wanted to do with her; make her a prisoner who would try escaping the first chance she got.
"What's your name by the way?" Abraham asked. He and Rosita had started walking down the opposite way of the road. He stopped so he could turn around and ask her, "Told you ours."
Suzy looked at him for a moment, thinking about if she should answer. She went with good ol' silence and turned away from him so she could curl up in her little ball. Rosita rolled her eyes in annoyance and walked off with the gas canister.
"Don't worry," Abraham chuckled, "You'll be with us a while. Take your time."
Doubt, Suzy thought. After that, Abraham and Rosita left to go get gas for the truck and find medicine. Eugene stood there awkwardly for a moment before nervously going back in the truck to wait for the two to get back. Now here she was, alone with Josephine, something she didn't want. She was the pushy type, someone who would keep trying to pry into someone's business. Suzy didn't want questions. She just wanted to leave.
"Here," Josephine handed her a bottle of water, "You need to keep hydrated."
Suzy didn't acknowledge her words, or the bottle of water hovering next to her in Josephine's hand.
"You running a fever," Josephine sighed, "It's hot today. At least drink a few sips then-"
When Josephine nudged it towards her again, Suzy smacked it away right out of her hand and onto the street. She gave an angry warning look towards her then went back to her fetal position and facing away from her. Josephine sighed again.
"Look," Josephine said, "We know what happened on the road when we found you. Your arm, the blood, the knife in your other hand. It wasn't hard putting two and two together."
The tone of her voice was soft and sympathetic. Suzy hated it. She didn't want their pity. If they were really kind people, they would've shown her mercy and put her down and left her in the street. They only saved her because they thought she was weak.
Josephine went and picked up the bottle Suzy threw and placed it next to where she was sitting.
"I'll see if there's some food I can find for you," She said. Right behind Suzy, Josephine looked through one of the bags for a spare can of soup. Once she found one, she set it next to the water bottle along with a can opener.
"You haven't always come across good people," Josephine said, "I'm so sorry for what you've gone through to end up like this. But you should know something. You don't have to be on your own anymore. There's no shame needing someone's help."
Suzy was silent for a while as she stared at the water and canned soup next to her. She was very thirsty. Her mouth was so dry and her skin felt like it was on fire. Not to mention the hunger that hasn't gone away in who knows how long now. Her body begged her to cave and chug down the water and devour the soup. No...She couldn't. She wasn't going to allow herself to accept their help. She didn't know them. They didn't know her. They already did too much by saving her life, something she didn't want. She wanted to die and these strangers didn't let her.
What did they actually want from her? Why should she trust a single word they say? She wasn't going to be stupid anymore. She couldn't trust anyone. Suzy looked away from the food and water so she could rest her head by the back window of the truck. She would bide her time until her arm healed enough for her to travel. The moment the opportunity arises, she was going to run and get as far away from these people as possible. Leave them to their fantasies. All she wanted was to be alone.
Suzy looked back down at the water and took the bottle into her hand. She didn't attempt to drink any of it. She only clutched it close to her chest as if she were holding onto life itself, like it was the only comfort she had in the world. Josephine took notice and smiled to herself. It would take some time, but she would come around.
She knew it.
Down the road, Abraham filled the gas canister with gas while Rosita searched the cars for other supplies.
"I'm not finding any antibiotics," Rosita said as she dug through the fourth car while Abraham moved onto the next car to syphon gas.
"You just gotta keep lookin'," Abraham chuckled, "Lotta cars around here. We'll come across some."
"And if not then we have to find a drugstore once we get back to the truck," Rosita replied. She picked up a small bottle of allergy pills then tossed it back into the truck as she groaned in annoyance, "Whatever. Not like she wants the help anyway."
"Hey," Abraham said like he was the one who should be offended.
"What?" Rosita rolled her eyes, "We save her life and she's not even thankful for it. We don't know this girl, Abraham."
"I didn't know you either when I met ya," He chuckled, "It's not about whether she wanted the help or not. She needed it and we need people. Shit works out that way."
Rosita put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes again, "She could be running away again as we speak."
"So?" Abraham chuckled again as he finished the next car, "Not like she'll get far. Josephine's taking care of her."
"I'm just saying, Abraham. Even if she could be an asset, she's not right now. Right now, she's a liability. She's unstable. Hell, we don't even know her name. I don't know what she went through to end up like that, but it's bringing her down, which brings us down."
"All right, so what do you want me to do, honey?" Abraham towered over her and smirked, "It's like you said. Whether she likes it or not, she's with us until we get her better. She doesn't really wanna go anywhere. We need the people. She'll learn to trust us sooner or later."
Rosita looked up at him in thought while she chewed the inside of her cheek and crossed her arms over her chest. He was right. They did need people, but was it worth the risk? More than that, was it worth all the effort they were putting into helping her?
"You better be right," Rosita nudged his arm with her elbow. Abraham laughed and leaned down to give her a much needed kiss.
Everything would be all right. Even if it was going to take some time. It was a long way to D.C. That meant there was still time for everyone to get used to each other. Their new mystery friend would come around eventually.
He was counting on it. Not only for them, but for the sake of the whole goddamn world...