"Please, drop me off here so I can go on a happy murder session. It's the most stress-relieving," I chimed in a sickly sweet tone as we reached Atlanta and saw several of the walkers strolling about.
"No," Glenn intervened in a frantic manner. "You're not arguing with me about that."
"Us," Rick and T-dog corrected.
I huffed, putting my head against the window as I stared out into the streets. If I had my headphones, I'd be able to drown out my thoughts. If I had my book, I'd be able to get lost in the world. But here in the middle of nowhere, I couldn't get any of those. And that killed me.
"We walk from here," Glenn stopped the car, turning to us in the back before exiting the car.
We trotted tiredly through the streets, warily avoiding walkers while killing them silently when we need it. I normally volunteered for the opportunity of murder, sometimes interrupted by the others killing them off before me. We walked further on into an alley where a fence barred us from passing through. The men grabbed their bolt cutters and cut through it before Rick stopped and asked Glenn.
"Merle first or the guns?"
Daryl, the new guy, snarled immediately, hissing. "Merle! We ain't even having this conversation."
"We are," Rick retorted, shutting Daryl up. "You know the geography, it's your call."
Glenn looked thoughtfully at me for some reason, before nodding to Rick.
"Merle's closest. If we try and get the guns first, we have to double back. Merle first."
Daryl relaxed at that and I just huffed. "If you boys are done with that, can we move on? Longer we hover in one place, more chance of us dying."
We moved through and Into the building where Merle, the brother of Daryl, was apparently trapped. A walker was grumbling around in the department store, the only thing that made me get disgusted in there. Daryl crinkled his nose at it, remarking: "Damn. You are one ugly skank."
He took his crossbow and shot it through the head and proceeded to pull the arrow out. The group moved on with me in the center for some reason, but then I halted, seeing a shirt hanging from the clothes rack. It was a navy one, with a big red heart in the center and the words "I" and "ATLANTA" surrounding it. I remembered what Rennie had joked about as we ran from the horde of walkers before and reached out to grab it. The size was also perfect for him, almost like someone had planned it.
"C'mon, what're you doing with that?" Daryl demanded from the front of the group that had halted.
"Someone piss in your cereal today?" I snapped back, eyes flaring at his attitude before shaking my head, internally reeling myself in. "You guys go on ahead. I'll come with in a second."
"I'll stay-" Glenn shouldered his pack, till he got cut off by Rick.
"We need you still," the cop turned to me. "Be quick, okay?"
"Roger that, officer friendly," I mock-saluted him before walking off and splitting from the group. T-dog hissed after me.
"Be careful."
The department store retained the tang of iron. It seemed like ou could never escape from that odor, no matter where you went. Lights flickered around me, some of the windows broken and clothes that were on display in shambles. I'd walk by old magazines and comic books, toys strewn about. And for some reason, I could see them all. People walking around the hallways, chatter echoing through the building rather than the dull silence. Children chasing after each other while their guardians shouted behind them about not running. The smell of pretzels and snacks and a pleading girl who begged with her dad for that one teddy bear that she was attracted to immediately. The teddy bear that was now grimy and battered right in front of my feet, its pale pink ribbon now grey with its fake smile still there in stitching. I picked it up gingerly, then thought back to the little girl in camp by the name of Sophie. She would love it if I only cleaned it up a bit.
I stuffed it in my pack, along with some other clothes for me, Rennie, and Ben. When I was satisfied enough, I got back up from the ground and brushed myself off with a sigh, shouldering the now weighted pack. I checked my wristwatch and saw that it had been about twenty minutes since I had left from the group and headed back towards them. When I got to the roof, there was not a single soul there nor was there anything in general. A handcuff still clung to the railing, but it was blood covered. A puddle of blood laid on the ground next to the cuffs, not too fresh from the texture and temperature. I stood up again with a grunt looking around me for some kind of clue as to where they could have possibly gone, only to see a familiar arrow pointing in a direction on the middle of the roof. I picked it up, inspecting it and recognized it as Daryl's before heading towards where it had been pointed, all the while feeling like a kid on a treasure hunt.
I headed down the stairs and saw another arrow, this time embedded in a walker's head. I grumbled slightly at the thought of having to pull it out from its head, but proceeded to do so anyways, wiping it off with the walker's clothing.
I walked around aimlessly, finding a kitchen and stepped into it unnoticed.
"-ou feel. He can't get far with that injury. We could help you check a few blocks around but only if we keep a level head," Rick held a very upset looking Daryl back. The other man pursed his lips a bit before resigning with an "I could do that".
"Only if we get those guns first. I'm not strolling the streets of Atlanta with just my good intentions, okay?" T-Dog intervened. I decided I had heard enough and proceeded to sneak up behind Glenn who had been standing with his back unprotected and was also standing next to T-Dog. I stood at an absolute standstill behind them for three total seconds before I talked loudly.
"Forgot about me already?"
The men jumped in surprise, wheeling around to face me, Daryl with his crossbow loaded and Rick with the safety off his gun. Glenn just screeched like the beautiful chick he was and T-Dog just grabbed his heart. When they saw it was me, a cacophony of voices sounded, overlapping each other into a jumbled mess before I halted them with a raise of my hand before I sniffed the air.
"Would someone explain to me why it smells like Uncle Joe's Barbeque Party?"