41: Hunting

The music clicked off once we were a few miles into our journey, "Tell me how it started." Riley looked at me from the corner of her eye as I sat in the passenger seat. She hadn't said a word about my problem since what happened this morning, and I'd hoped that she'd just leave it. She normally just left things, but I guess this was different. This was big. This was important. And she was my chance to get a better handle on it.

I needed to just be honest with her. She had every opportunity to kill me and she let me live. I owed her, "I had a safe house. Group came and left. Couldn't deal, couldn't sleep, so I kept myself as busy as I could. Messed up. Horde came. Got bit."

"And you didn't," she mimed a gun to her head and a pull of the imaginary trigger.

"I was out of it at the time." I thought it over. That had always been the plan. Got bit? Shot to the head. Honorable death considering the alternative. "It didn't even cross my mind." I hollowly laughed, "Guess that's a good thing."

She laughed a bit then. She had a knack for that, laughing at the most morbid of things. "When did you get hungry?"

"A couple days after I thought I was immune. Figured I'd check the woods, see if I could get some fresh meat for my last meal at the house. After a while I smelled something good, followed my nose. Saw the bear. They aren't supposed to smell like that, smelled so good I could barely keep myself from shooting the thing and digging in right then and there. Didn't smell as good as you though, or I wouldn't have been able to stop. That's when I knew something was wrong with me. Went back home and choked down some oatmeal or something."

"Just like that? Just walked away?"

I shook my head, "It was hard to do. I almost went back like, ten times. But that's not how I do things. Only if I need to." She turned her face slightly, showing her confusion. "It's my one rule. I won't kill anyone or anything unless I need to."

"Then dinner."

I shook my head again, "I've thought about it, more than I'd like to admit, but I can't risk it."

"Smart girl." She focused on the road for a while before she spoke again, "How many humans have you had to deal with since?"

"Just you."

She nodded, reaching down into her bag and pulling out a pack of cigarettes. "I grabbed these back in town, they'll help," she threw them at me, "Mom said she couldn't smell or taste a thing at the end."

"I'm not going to start smoking."

"Yes, you are."

"I was pre-med, going to be a doctor, no way in hell I'm ever smoking cigarettes."

The car screeched to a halt, "Do you want me to help you or not?" The look in her eyes told me she was not in the mood to argue, so I just nodded. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out a lighter, "Just one a day for now."

I accepted the Bic and pulled one of the cancer sticks out, "So this is your plan? Smoking?"

"Part of it," she began down the street again.

I lit the end and took a small puff, coughing a few times before calming my lungs down, "And the other part?"

"We're going hunting." There was something off about the way she said it, something in her voice that put me on edge.

"Then we'd better rest up before morning," I tried to diffuse my worries.

She laughed sarcastically, "No, we're going tonight."

"I'm already exhausted. We should just—"

"I need you exhausted." She turned down a dirt road, "The weaker you are, the more you'll want to feed, the harder it will be for you to resist." It made sense. It made sense, and that scared the shit out of me. I didn't want to give in. I didn't want to cross that line.

"But we wont be able to see a thing."

She tapped her nose, "Won't need to with you around." I opened my mouth to spout out some other reason, but she stopped me, "We're hunting tonight. End of story." There was something about the way she sat, the way she spoke so clearly to me, and air of wisdom. I trusted her entirely. I hadn't felt this weak and this safe at the same time, but I couldn't let her know. Trust is best kept secret out here. She'd understand.

Eventually she stopped the car and turned off the engine. The way she stared ahead of her I knew she recognized the place. I looked over at her, "What is it?"

She pulled out a flashlight and pulled her scarf down a bit before shining the light to her neck, "See this?" There was a large chunk of her skin missing, must've just healed by the look of it. The longer I examined it the more I wondered how the hell she was still alive. "I was up through here, see that mark on the tree," she shined the light out and sure enough there was a diagonal cut through the bark on a nearby trunk. "There was a small group that found me. I didn't want to join them, and they didn't take kindly to that. So they did this to me and left me for dead, not before taking all of my supplies with them."

"How'd you make it out alive?"

"Two things. First is I'm hard to kill." She looked down and rummaged through her bag, pulling out a scarf. From the moment it left the confines of the leather a surge of saliva filled my mouth, "Second's this." She threw it onto my lap and a leaned away from it as best as I could, "Don't be afraid of it. It's just a scarf."

"The smell," I barely got out before she reached into the back for a gun.

"Only if you need to, or only if they deserve it?"

I let out my now common nervous laugh as I tried to hold my breath, "Before it was if they deserved it, but now—"

"You want to be like you were before, right?" I nodded. "These men deserve it." She pulled another gun out and handed it to me, "Do you have your towel?" I pulled it out of my pocket and waved it at her, "Hand it over."

She reached for it, but I held it out of her reach, "Why?"

She snatched it from me this time, "You wont need it, tonight you'll be wearing my scarf."

I looked at the bloodstained garment in my lap, "I can't wear that thing, it'll, you know…"

"That's the point." She opened the door and stepped out of the car, tucking the gun and towel into her waistband and checking her various knives. I grabbed another gun and joined her outside of the car, hoping she wouldn't notice that I left the scarf on the front seat. She knew me better though. Riley knew everything. She didn't even have to look at me, "Wear it or I'll shoot you."

My hands were timid as they picked up the fabric and wrapped it around my neck, my mind went hazy at the aroma, "I don't think I can—"

"Stop," she was in front of me then. "That group of yours… think of them," the moon was peaking out and in that second I could see her eyes. They weren't warm. They weren't motherly. They were strictly business. "Remember that this is the only way you'll get to them."

I nodded, "What if I can't smell what we're looking for?"

She turned to the car and locked the doors; taking her time to answer, "Don't worry about things before they happen. It just makes you look stupid."

-o0o-

I was getting used to the smell of the scarf, but just barely. I was more thankful that Riley couldn't notice the steady stream of drool pouring from my mouth as we paced the forest floor, her following just a few feet behind me. I remember doing this before, with Daryl, only time hadn't done its damage yet. Back then I stood strong, confident, almost arrogant, but now things had changed so drastically. Back then there would be a smile on my face, and a different hunger in my bones. Back then I didn't need anyone to lead or protect me. If he saw me now he probably wouldn't even recognize me. The steps I too were slightly smaller, the way I walked on the outside of the tips of my toes as if there were landmines everywhere I went, my muscles were always tense like I was about to be hit, my shoulders curved in a way that screamed self-preservation. I was just a ghost of my former self. I was just some feedback that was stuck in the speakers. I was just the leftover hunger. I was just barely still Annie.

A breeze made its way through the trees and I stopped in my tracks. She whispered up to my position, "Smell 'em?" I nodded; there was no doubt in my mind that this wasn't some bear. It was human, and from the strength of the scent there were more than one. The spit filled my mouth almost instantly, and the drool flowed more steadily. I quickly prepared my guns, wanting to get this done, looking back at her only briefly to make sure she was ready. "I'll take right." I nodded and took a step in the direction of our prey. I heard her order clearly as she followed me, "Kill them all."

I began to follow my nose, my pace quicker than before, and my strides larger. I was back for a moment, confident, a predator not a victim. I wasn't thinking about controlling myself, I was just thinking about tracking them down. The smell kept getting stronger and followed Riley's command. I thought of the group. I thought of Lori holding her new baby, Carl and Rick beside her. A happy family. A happy family I wanted the chance to meet. I thought of T-Dog, telling some story that I hadn't heard yet, getting to laugh again, really laugh. I could tell we were getting closer; the smell was making everything unclear and yet it focused me. I could even hear noise in the distance. I stopped for a second, "We're close." I looked back at Riley; I could barely make her out through the darkness and hunger, except her eyes. They, too, had hunger in them. She wanted them dead. "When they get into range confirm it's them," I snarled as I pointed to her binoculars, "Then we'll take them out."

"Roger," she nodded, and on we went. Our steps were silent, but had that urgency in them. That need for blood. That need to satisfy something deep within ourselves. The smell continuously intensified, and I could feel my humanity slipping. The group. That dead buck. Family. The noises of men talking grew louder until we caught a glimpse of firelight. I took cover behind a tree, and she followed suit before peering through the specs. "It's them," she whispered, "There's five. How do you want to play this?"

I thought on it for a second, "Feign helplessness, yell help 'til I reach 'em. They'll be focused on me, you get behind 'em."

She motioned to my shirt, "Undo a few more of those buttons." I stuffed the guns into my back pockets, careful not to touch the triggers since I'd turned the safeties off, then I clumsily undid the buttons past my bra. You're human. You're still human. "Perfect. Signal is hungry." She checked her gun, "Say hungry, then will shoot 'em up." I nodded as she held her hand up.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

I cut to the left first before I started yelling, then I ran towards that heavenly smell as fast as my tired legs could carry me. "Help!" I could see them starting to scramble as the smell filled my lungs, "Help! Please!" When I got close to them I collapsed onto a tree, I'm still human. "Please. They got my sister," I hunched over just enough to not show the guns I was hiding. They deserve it. I didn't look at them, not directly. I was starving. I couldn't look at them. "They got her so I ran," I wiped my forehead, tears falling from my eyes. Annie, just stay human. "I've been running almost all day, trying to find someone."

"You're safe now, pretty little thing." I found it in myself to look at them. The five men were standing almost in a straight line, idiots. Easy pickings. The one that was talking to me took a few steps forward and I had to resist lunging at him and taking a bite. The smell was overwhelming. Annie, you're human. Think of the group. Those blue eyes. A different king of hunger. Happiness. The way his skin felt. I did my best to act frightened, focus on the task at hand. "Don't worry. We won't hurt you, see?" just as I expected he set his gun down, "Gun's down, boys. Poor girl's just scared." The men all relaxed their stance. Idiots. Men are so easy. The leader took a more steps, his face coming into the firelight. I saw his eyes then, darting from my face to my chest, hungry.

Hungry, just like me. "I… I don't suppose you have any water? Or s-spare food?" One of the figures in the back reached for a bottle and threw it to the leader, who handed it to me. I took a sip, moving one of my hands to my back pocket to grip the first gun, "Th-thank you." I scanned behind the leader and saw a flicker of Riley's visage. She was only a few feet behind the man furthest back, gun pointed directly at his head. I straightened myself up a bit, putting the cap on the water, "I'm just so hungry."

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang.

Hope you enjoyed today's installment of Annie Get Your Gun. Be sure to tip your writer with some of those precious reviews, and have a good rest of your flight.

Haha. Seriously though, I hope you liked this chapter. Please review with all of your thoughts and comments, I love to hear what you all think, and where you want things to go. Don't lose heart, she's getting closer to getting back to the group (thank goodness). Again, many thanks to LivinJgrl123 for creating the lovely Riley. And thank you to all of you who read these things.

A Question To The Readers: What do you like/hate about our Annie? I'm ultra-curious. :)