She's shivering everywhere. She's freezing but drenched in sweat. Her eyes dart around, looking at everything but not taking anything in. Chloe lean's against a tree and gasp's for breath. The cold air burns her lungs. The stitch in her side, overwhelming her to the point where she can barely stand. The air that makes it to her lungs leaves her quickly like a high five she never received as she gasp's for more. Her mind tells her she's being greedy. But her lungs and bloodstream tell her that she's being just a little too modest.
She only gives herself a hot second to rest before she continues running. The branches hanging in her path scratch her bare arms and face. She feel's a particularly deep cut on her cheek start to bleed. Chloe doesn't even see it coming. A ravine. She topples over and slides down it, blows from the roots sticking up from the ground hit her face and limbs. A hard blow hits her stomach and she remembers coughing up blood, still falling. Then something hits her head, she couldn't even see what it was. But it made everything go black.
"Rick!" Chloe hears a man call. Her eyes barley open and most of what she see's is red. But she gets a glimpse of a man with curly dark hair and big brown eyes.
"What do we do with her?" An African American man asked. Chloe saw more men crowd around her, five to be exact. She felt outnumbered and in serious trouble. Men were dangerous, and she didn't and couldn't and wouldn't trust them. Not with her childhood, hell no.
"Ah say we leave 'er. Or put a bullet in 'er brain. Put 'er outta 'er misery." Another man with a crossbow said.
"I think we should take her with us." Chloe felt her body relax just a little bit. This was a women speaking, and if she could speak this openly to the men, then maybe they weren't that bad. Except for the one that wanted to shoot her.
"Rick?" An Asian with a ball cap asked.
"We should try and help her. See what we can do, I'm not comfortable leavin' someone out here. Especially in the state she's in." The man with curly blond hair and soft blue eyes, most likely Rick, said. "We can put her in the back of the truck, fix her up there."
Chloe felt herself being lifted and put down again on what was no doubt a truck bed. She lifted her arms and wiped the blood and sweat from her eyes. When she opened them fully, there were three people in front of her.
A women with short brown hair and emerald green eyes, the man with the crossbow and Rick. Chloe was getting the idea that Rick was their leader.
"Hey," He said softly, crouching in front of her. "I'm Rick. That's Maggie and Daryl. What's your name?"
"Water." Chloe said, barely audible. She pointed to her throat. Rick nodded and the women called Maggie went away for a minute. When she came back she had what Chloe had requested. "Thank you. Chloe. I'm Chloe." She said it only a little louder than before.
"My daddy's a doctor. He'll help you. He's not here right now, but when he comes back you'll be good as new." Maggie said.
"Yeah, why don't you get some rest while we wait?" Rick suggested. Chloe doesn't even hesitate to lay down and close her eyes. She falls asleep quickly, listening to the voices of the others.
Could they be new found friends? She thinks, her brain half asleep. They'll want to know my past. Chloe's not sure if she'll want to share that.
A/N - If you like this story, review 'Chloe'. I just wanted to let you know that I know Chloe is a dog name. But my dog named Chloe past away recently and I think I'm going to continue this story. Also, fair warning, I didn't edit this chap, so sorry for any mistakes lol.