A few days later, I was tidying up my room and had just finished making my bed when a knock sounded at my door.
"Come in!" I called, setting my pillow back in place and turning to see who it was. Amy entered carrying Abby; the baby was wearing a little yellow romper and had her pink pacifier sticking out of her mouth.
"Hey, I'm curious. Is Negan coming by tonight?" Amy asked, going over to sit down on my bed.
"I'm not sure. I guess he's had some issues he's had to deal with at the Sanctuary. Three people stole a bunch of medical supplies and ran off."
"More faces to burn," Amy muttered. She was propping Abby up so she could look around the room. The infant's curious eyes were taking in everything around her. "How have things been going with you two?"
"He.. uh.." I let out an uneasy laugh. "He asked me to marry him."
"What!?" Amy exclaimed, raising her eyebrows in surprise. Startled, Abby spat out her binky and it fell onto the bed. I nodded, smiling awkwardly. "What did you say?!"
"I told him no." I shrugged and looked away, remembering the little argument between Negan and me.
"Do you want to marry him?" she asked, placing the pacifier back into Abby's mouth.
I let out a long sigh and closed my eyes.
"Honestly? I don't know. I told him I would, but only if it's just the two of us. He didn't like that."
"Wait.. you're telling me he wants you to join his wives?" She sat up a bit just in time for Abby to spit the binky out again.
"Yeah. He won't give them up," I said, scratching my head.
"Asshole," Amy hissed while replacing the binky, only for it to be immediately spat out. She set it down on my nightstand and then turned to face me. "I'm sorry, Elle. You deserve better than that."
"He's not a "one woman kind of guy"," I mumbled, quoting Negan the day I had met his wives. Being in that parlor room had made me so uncomfortable. I couldn't imagine living that life with the other girls.
"If he really cares about you, he'll change," Amy said. "Someone is gonna have to give in, and it better not be you."
I let out a laugh. "I'll stick to my guns."
"Good." Amy smirked.
Suddenly a shrill noise came from from outside, causing Amy and I to jump in surprise. Abby began to cry as a repetitive honking noise rang out throughout the entire school.
A car alarm.
"What the fuck is happening?!" Amy said, looking at me frantically.
"Stay inside," I told her, grabbing my pistol and heading out of my room. Rushing towards the front of the school, I watched as the other Doveporters gathered into the hallway to look outside. I expected to see we were under attack, but the gate was still closed.
As I stepped into the yard, I followed the source of the alarm to our car. Eric and Ryan were both distraught, searching inside the car. The closer I got, the louder the alarm pounded in my ears.
"Turn it off!" I yelled over the high-pitched noise.
"We're trying!" Ryan cried. "Eric can't get it to stop. Something is wrong with the fuse!" Eric was trying to pull the plastic away from the left-hand side of the steering column.
"As he struggled, I bent down near the little metal toolbox and pulled out some pliers. Handing them to Eric, he pried the plastic off and revealed the car's fuse box.
Two rows of multi-colored fuses was revealed and Eric began removing each one, not bothering to figure out which fuse was which. Finally, he removed a red fuse and the alarm stopped.
Eric let out a sigh of relief and dropped the pliers. He leaned back in the seat and then looked over at me.
"Sorry. We accidentally set it off."
"It's okay," I reassured him, "Do you know what happened?"
He got out of the car and dropped the pliers inside the toolbox.
"Yeah, it's a piece of shit car." He seemed frustrated, and I remembered he had recently asked Negan for another vehicle.
I was about to ask him about it when a scratching noise came from the gate. We all froze and listened to the sound of a walker crawling at the metal door. Bending down to the toolbox, I pulled out a hammer and headed over to the gate.
When I opened it, the creature stumbled into the yard with its arms outstretched towards me. Swinging the hammer into the side of its head, it dug into its skull and sent the walker toppling down. Setting the hammer on the ground, I grabbed the dead body and began dragging it through the gate and out of the school yard.
Moving the corpse into the surrounding trees, I thought I heard a strange sound coming down the road. As I stepped back towards the gate and glanced down the street, my eyes widened in horror.
A horde of walkers was stumbling along, no doubt attracted to the car alarm. They moved as a group, some of them dragging themselves along the asphalt and others walking along the grass. As I stood frozen in fear, I realized there were more than I could count.
There had to be hundreds of them.
And all of them were headed right for the school.
Panic hit and I backed into the school yard, grabbing the gate. As I went to shut it, walkers appeared in the nearby trees. Every single one was heading right for me. I closed the gate quickly, latching the little bent metal piece back into place just as they all arrived at the entrance. They began scratching and pushing against the door, causing the gate to groan against the pressure.
"Elle?" Ryan called out from where he was standing by the car. Both men were watching me as I looked back at them. The growling noise grew even louder as the horde grew closer and more walkers began pushing against the barrier.
"Get inside!" I yelled, taking another step back.
Then I heard a loud snapping noise.
The metal latch broke off and the gate was forced opened. As a couple walkers stumbled forward, their bodies causing the gate to open wider.
Scrambling to grab the hammer from the ground, I stood back up just in time for one of them to reach me. It knocked me down just as I gripped the tool in my hand and swung as hard as I could.
Falling on my ass, I hit the walker in the front of the face with the hammer. It broke through the putrid flesh and a yellow liquid sprayed out everywhere. I didn't have time to be disgusted as more walkers continued to enter into the yard.
Then I felt someone pulling me back up to my feet. Eric had ran over to help me and was now leading me towards the school. I glanced back to see the dead were pouring into the yard, filling it up like water in a bowl.
Ryan was holding the front door open as Eric and I sprinted through. Once we were inside, he closed and locked it. The walkers all followed us up to the building. A group of them pressed up against the thick glass. Within seconds, there were more of them than I could count. Their yellow eyes stared at us as they desperately scratched at the windows.
Gasping for breath, I glanced back to see every Doveporter was watching the terrifying sight.
"Ryan went to lock the back door," Vivienne said in a frantic voice as she stepped up to me.
"The glass is bulletproof. It should hold, but I can't be sure," Eric informed me.
I stood speechless, not knowing what to do. There was only one entrance and exit to the school yard and it was that front gate. I couldn't see over the gathering walkers, but I remembered the size of the horde. They'd continue to come into the walls and we would have no way out.
Then I remembered the walkie-talkie.
Racing away from the front doors and my friends, I went to my bedroom and snatched the radio from my dresser. Pressing the talk button with a shaky hand, I tried to calm my nerves.
"Doveport has been overrun." I spoke slowly, but could hear the fear in my voice. "We are trapped inside the school and the yard is filling with walkers. There's a horde. Please, is anyone there?"
Silence followed for a few seconds and I pressed the button again.
"Hello? Does anyone copy?!"
No response.
It usually took a few minutes to get a hold of anyone, but as the seconds ticked by and the radio remained silent, I became filled with dread.
If I couldn't contact anyone, we would be sitting ducks.
Hooking the walkie talkie to my jeans, I went back into the hallway where everyone was gathered. They watched as the creatures pressed up against the glass with wide, scared faces.
"Everyone get away from the windows!" I yelled, going up to where Eric and Amy were standing. Amy was holding onto Abby and looking at the walkers.
"What are we going to do?" Eric asked as the other Doveporters gathered near us.
"I radioed Negan, but I haven't got an answer. We just need to hold out until we can contact him. Then he can come get us." I spoke loud enough so everyone could hear me and did my best to sound confident.
"Then we need to pack," Vivienne said. I could tell she was scared, but she was doing her best to hide it. "Everyone needs to gather their things so we can be ready to leave."
I nodded. I hated to leave Doveport behind, but our lives mattered more than the school. The others seemed to agree and dispersed to their rooms. Eric ran to his and Amy's room and Vivienne headed for the cafeteria. Amy remained frozen in the hallway staring out the glass windows.
"Amy?" I asked, taking a step forward so I could see her face. She was terror-stricken, clinging to Abby and unblinking as she watched the monsters outside. Swallowing hard, she finally looked at me with wide eyes.
"I'm scared, Elle," she whispered.
I should have reassured her it would be okay, but I couldn't.
I was scared too.
Three hours went by and we didn't hear anything from Negan or the Saviors.
Every few minutes I would try to get a hold of someone, pressing the little black button on the radio and repeating the same message. When Negan had given me the walkie, he had said someone would always be listening. That didn't appear to be the case.
As evening came and the walkers surrounded the whole building, the Doveporters gathered into the cafeteria. Every weapon we had was ready in case the walkers got inside. The others had packed their bags while I tried to contact Negan.
Another group of the dead gathered by the back doors where the glass panels were less thick. Ryan was keeping an eye on it, but said it didn't look good. They pressed up against the windows, and soon little hairline fractures began to form.
It would only be a matter of time before they got inside the school.
Pressing the talk button on the radio, I brought it to my lips for the umpteenth time.
"Please… is anyone there?" I pleaded. "Doveport has been overrun." I could hear the hopelessness in my voice and I hung my head down feeling defeated when it hissed to life.
"Hello?" a familiar voice came through sounding confused.
"Simon?!" I sat up and practically shouted his name.
"Elle?" he asked. The static was loud and he sounded far away.
"Yes! Simon, please! We need help! There was a horde and the gate is busted. We're all inside the school, but we're trapped!" I felt tears of relief from finally hearing a voice through the little black box in my hand. A few seconds of silence followed, and then Simon spoke again.
"How many?"
"Too many to count. There has to be hundreds of them."
I waited for his response, but the radio remained quiet for a few minutes. We all sat and stared at the walkie-talkie.
"Elle, you still there?" Simon asked after a while.
"Yeah," I said. He sounded even further away—like the connection would break any second.
"You need to hold out for an hour. We're on our way."
It was more than we had a few minutes ago.
Nodding my head and closing my eyes I pressed the talk button.
"Thank you. Please hurry," I begged.
We didn't get another response from him.
Looking up at the grim expressions on my friends' faces, I tried to look as reassuring as possible.
"They're on their way. We're gonna get through this," I promised them, making sure to look at every single one.
I would make sure of it.
No one would die today.
An hour later, a car horn honked and everyone raced into the hallway near the entrance of the school. Gunfire rang out as the Saviors began shooting the walkers, and everyone gathered near the front doors to try and see outside.
Amy was standing at the very front, clutching Abby to her chest as she watched Negan's men clear out the creatures. She had a diaper bag slung over her shoulder and a backpack on. Eric and Vivienne were standing with her and trying to look over the walker heads, each with their own bags.
The radio buzzed to life and I grabbed it.
"Elle?" Negan asked.
"I'm here," I answered quickly.
"We're gonna clear a path to the entrance. Once it's safe, send out eight people for the first truck. We'll bring in the second for the rest. Got it?"
"Yes. I understand. We're all ready to go." We would have to be fast, but it was doable.
The gunfire continued as more walkers met their fate. As the ones near the entrance began falling. Soon we could finally see the yard again. The horde was still there, and Negan's men were doing their best to contain it. A pickup truck was parked near the front doors and a group of Saviors were shooting any walkers that tried to approach it. Once a path was cleared, the walkie talkie buzzed.
"Okay, send out the first eight!" Negan instructed.
Just as I unlocked the front door, a startled look came over Amy and she gasped.
"The binky!" she exclaimed.
"There's no time!" Eric yelled, staring at his wife.
"It'll just take me a second. Here." Amy handed Abby to Eric and gave him the diaper bag. "Go to the truck. I'll go to the second one with Elle."
Before Eric could argue, Amy sprinted down the hallway back towards their bedroom. I opened the front door and Eric hesitated, watching the hall for his wife. He looked fretful.
"I've got her," I assured him. "Get Abby to safety."
Carrying his child, Eric was the first out the door. The other Doveporters began filing out, and once eight people left, I closed the door and waited for the second truck to pull in. The first one sped off and the walkers began gathering towards us again. Negan's men began shooting at them and I glanced over at Vivienne. She had a duffel bag slung over her shoulder and was watching down the hallway.
"Where's Ryan?" Vivienne asked, peering down the hall. "He wasn't with the first group!"
Before I could answer her, the sound of glass shattering sounded out from down the hall. Turning to look, I realized it was coming from the the back doors.
The walkers were inside and Amy and Ryan weren't back yet.
I took off running towards the back doors while pulling out my pistol.
"Elle!" Vivienne shrieked as I sprinted away from her.
"Get to the truck!" I called out before rounding the hallway. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, and when I came around the second corner my heart stopped.
The glass panels surrounding the door had shattered and a group of walkers were hunched over something. As one sat up to look at me, blood ran down from its mouth. Bile rose in my throat as I realized what they were eating.
Ryan.
One had bitten into his face, tearing the skin and part of his bottom lip off. Another had torn his throat open, rendering him silent. The rest were ripping into his stomach, pulling out his intestines and covering the floor in blood. He was staring at me with wide, horrified eyes. A few more of the walkers looked up to see me as more continued to enter through the broken window.
With only seconds to spare, I aimed my Ruger as best as I could. Firing a single bullet, it made its mark into Ryan's head and his body fell limp. Tears welled up in my eyes as the walkers continued to eat him.
Spinning around and racing back towards the front of the school, I saw the others were already outside and heading for the last truck. Vivienne was still inside, waiting for me.
"Amy!" she screamed frantically and pointed back towards the bedrooms.
"Go!" I yelled, heading for Amy and Eric's room. As I entered, I saw Amy was crawling on the floor looking under the bed and dresser.
"Amy, we need to go NOW!" I shouted, going over and grabbing her arm to pull her up.
"I can't find that damn binky! Abby can't sleep without it!" Amy got up and glanced around the room, desperately trying to locate the pacifier.
"Amy, please! They're inside the school!" I pulled her towards the door as she continued to search the room.
Grabbing her face, I forced her to look at me.
"Ryan's dead."
She stared back at me frightened and then nodded. Finally giving up, she allowed me to lead her into the hallway. As we stepped out, a loud growling sound made us freeze. Turning around, we both watched as an entire group of the dead staggered towards us.
Wrapping my hand around hers, I began sprinting down the hallway. Amy and I ran as fast as we could, moving around the last corner before the exit.
Then she stumbled.
The backpack slipped from her shoulders and fell onto the ground. Amy stopped running and let go of my hand to grab it. I skidded to a halt and reached out towards her just as a walker came around the corner followed by the rest of the horde.
"Amy!" I shrieked, as one of the creatures shoved her down and fell on top of her. Acting fast, I sprinted at it and pushed it off with all my strength. It stumbled and fell facing away from me just as another walker advanced towards us. Firing my gun at its head, I spun to grab Amy's shoulder and pulled her onto her feet without looking at her. My attention was focused on the figure standing at the end of the hallway.
Negan was gesturing for us to hurry and holding the front door open. I could see the truck waiting for us and heard the gunfire still going off outside. As we ran down the hallway and out the front doors past him, I saw a grim expression appear on his face.
The bed of the pickup truck was hanging open and Vivienne and the other Doveporters were gathered inside. Amy crawled in first, and I followed. Negan was the last one in and pulled the bed door shut just as the truck began speeding out of the yard.
As we drove through the gate and headed down the road, I watched as the school became smaller. Closing my eyes, I tried to catch my breath. Ryan was dead, but everyone else had made it out okay.
"Elle…" Negan's voice made my blood turn cold and I glanced up at him. That same, grim look was still there, but he wasn't looking at me.
He was looking at Amy.
My head slowly turned to take in my friend that was sitting completely still next to me.
She was pale white and staring off into space, but my eyes immediately went to an oval shape of teeth marks on her neck.
She'd been bitten.