VI - Martyr
-Seven Hours Later-
A cool gust swirled around a highway bridge chock-full of abandoned vehicles. A few roamers wandered around the highway, growling softly as the morning sunlight continued to reflect off their golden eyes.
Ronnie Anne's eyes blinked open. She was met with the sight of Lincoln slamming a roamer against another car before shoving his knife into its skull. She gasped as she looked around, finding herself sitting in the passenger seat, covered with a blanket, before she placed her hands on her head, feeling a bandage strip wrapped around her forehead. Lincoln then looked at her and walked towards the car that Ronnie Anne was in.
The door to the passenger seat opened. Lincoln looked at Ronnie Anne, who placed her fingers on her right ear, groaning.
"Thank god, you're awake," sighed Lincoln.
"M-My head hurts like crazy," said Ronnie Anne. "How the hell did I get here?"
"I'll tell you later. For now, just stay put. I'll find us a working car."
"Stay put? Like hell I am. Let me come with."
"No. Just stay."
"Are we still in Maplewood?"
"Yeah…" groaned Lincoln, rubbing his knuckles, which were wrapped in bandages. "I need you to—"
"We gotta get the hell outta here," said Ronnie Anne. "The group's gotta be awake by now. They're gonna know we're gone."
"You're still injured. It's risky for you to be walking around."
"It's risky for me to do nothing. We can cover more ground together."
"I'm doing fine. The group don't know where we went. But pretty soon, they'll find this place. And we need to be gone, but Ronnie— I need you to stay."
"Where's that son of a bitch— Troy? I bet he's snitching on us! That rat!"
"Ron… he's not going to tell them."
"How would you know? What'd you do— offer him a pack of Snickerdoodles?"
Ronnie Anne looked into Lincoln's eyes. His eyes appeared tired and empty.
"He's not gonna tell them," said Lincoln. "Stay."
Ronnie Anne gulped. She placed her legs back inside the car and looked ahead at the windshield as Lincoln closed the door.
"What's you do, Lincoln?" whispered Ronnie Anne to herself.
A few minutes passed.
Ronnie Anne was reading an atlas. She looked at the pages with the maps of Maryland, tracing her fingers along the lines representing the roads and highways. She then flipped the page and looked at a map of Washington D.C. before running her fingers along the lines, all going north. She flipped a page going to Michigan. She pointed at Royal Woods and ran her fingers south to Ohio. Then east to Pennsylvania. Then south to Maryland, and eventually D.C. Then, she went north again, retracing her fingers on a different route, skipping over Bethesda and Maplewood.
"Where did you go, Bobby?" whispered Ronnie Anne.
Suddenly, Ronnie Anne heard a muffled clatter coming from outside the car. She closed her atlas and rolled down the window. She looked outside the car.
"Lincoln? Was that you?"
The wind blew softly against Ronnie Anne's hair. She looked around and stood up straight in her seat.
"Lincoln?"
No response. She looked around and felt her heart beating faster than normal. She then turned towards the back seats and grabbed her crossbow.
"Hey, Ronnie Anne," said a young male voice.
Ronnie Anne froze. She then faced forward, her hands still holding her crossbow, until her eyes met another pair of eyes.
The other pair of eyes belonged to Desmond, who was standing outside the car. Ronnie Anne felt her throat drying up as she saw the golden pistol pointing at the open car window, aiming directly at her.
"The smart thing to do right now is to drop that crossbow," said Desmond.
Ronnie Anne released her crossbow, allowing it to fall down to the car floor. Desmond then placed his hand on the lock and pulled it up before opening the door.
"Out— now."
Ronnie Anne stepped outside the car and turned around. Her eyes widened as she saw Malone and the children approaching her. They held two children by their hands which were tied behind their back while they wore a bag over their head.
Annie then pulled out the bags and revealed a battered Lincoln— his face bruised and swollen— and a rotting Troy— his swollen eyes glowing yellow and drool slipping out of his blue cut lips. The roamer that used to be Troy was growling, struggling to set itself free.
Shock appeared in Ronnie Anne's face. She looked at Lincoln as she walked towards him.
"That's enough," said Annie, tears bubbling in her eyes. "Don't come any closer."
"Look, Annie," said Ronnie Anne. "I don't know what you think happened, but I can promise you, we didn't do anything to him."
"Troy was my brother. You took him away from me. I need to hear you say it."
"M-Me?"
"No way your cowardly friend killed him. Lincoln's too weak."
"M-Maybe it was someone else. I didn't do it."
"I thought you were my friend, Ronnie Anne. Why? Why did you kill him?"
"I didn't."
Annie handed Troy over to Ms. Malone and shoved Lincoln against a car.
"You two are gonna feel pain like you never have before," said Annie. "Confess."
"I— we didn't do it!"
"LIAR!"
Annie yelled as she grabbed the back of Lincoln's head and slammed the left side of his face against the car window, creating a circular crack.
"Stop!" yelled Ronnie Anne.
Lincoln groaned as Annie pulled his head back and slammed his face against the car window again. It shattered, causing many glass shards to fall into the car seats and the pavement outside the car.
Ronnie Anne looked at Lincoln's bleeding face. Blood from the cuts on his left face ran down his eyes and cheeks.
"You—!"
She yelled and prepared to run forward, though Desmond grabbed her from behind. He then kicked her legs and forced her to her knees.
"Confess and I'll give him a quick death!" yelled Annie.
"No!" screamed Ronnie Anne. "Let him go! He's my only friend left!"
"Everyone in here may be family," said Annie, "but Troy was my blood."
Annie pushed Lincoln to the ground against the car. She turned around and looked at Ms. Malone.
"Can we start punishing them now?" she asked.
Ms. Malone nodded. She looked at the children, seeing them set their weapons aside on nearby cars. Desmond placed his knife and his golden pistol on top of the trunk of the car. Annie placed her knife on the hood of the car. Then, they walked forward, cracking their knuckles.
Ronnie Anne looked up at Annie. She then quickly covered her face with her arms before receiving a kick. She was then kicked again— in the stomach this time.
"Stop," panted Ronnie Anne.
Desmond then kicked her in the back, causing her to cry out in pain as she reached for her aching spine. Annie then punched her jaw, causing her to fall to her side. Fallyn then stomped her right calf. Gertrude stomped her left calf.
"Let her go!" yelled Lincoln as he flailed his body around.
Owen kicked Lincoln back into the ground. Ira then kicked his legs before Juliett then placed her arms around Lincoln's neck in a chokehold.
"Oh, no, the agony!" said Juliett, pretending to care before looking at Hargrove. "Hit him, Hargrove!"
Hargrove hesitatingly stepped forward before Piers grabbed his shoulders. He turned around, gasping at the sight of the roamers walking towards them.
"Uncontrollables!" yelled Hargrove.
Ms. Malone turned around and backed away while holding a growling Troy.
Annie grabbed Ronnie Anne's collar and punched her in the nose. She then turned around and looked at the approaching roamers.
"Get 'em," said Annie. "I'll stay with Ronnie Anne."
Desmond nodded as he grabbed his knife. Fallyn grabbed her bow and quiver. Gertrude grabbed her baton and smoke grenades.
"I'll watch him," said Owen.
"I got him," said Juliet. "Just join the others!"
Owen nodded and grabbed his bush hook. Ira grabbed his own slingshot. He then walked next to Desmond. They began stabbing the approaching roamers, some of them running at full sprint, while others simply staggered along the road, passing cars at a turtle pace.
Piers spun his tomahawk and then tossed it forward, killing a runner. Hargrove pulled out his mallet and slammed it against a roamer's head.
Lincoln groaned as he kept flailing his body around. Juliett giggled as she leaned close to his ears.
"If you admit that Ronnie Anne killed Troy, we'll kill you quickly," said Juliett.
"But you'll torture her," said Lincoln.
"It's all about self-interests, Linky. Do what's best for you."
Lincoln stopped flailing and looked upwards. Juliett smiled before looking at him extending his arms outward, revealing the cut ropes on his wrist as well as the bleeding glass shard on his right hand. Her eyes widened.
Lincoln folded back his arm as fast as he could, moving his glass shard at top speed towards Juliett's throat. She quickly released Lincoln as she gagged, moving her hands toward her throat. Lincoln then stood up and slammed his boot against her neck, forcing the shard deeper into her throat as blood squirted out of her mouth.
"Jewelee!" yelled Owen.
Lincoln looked at Annie, whose eyes widened. Ronnie Anne panted as she looked at Annie, taking her chance to fight back. She quickly grabbed her neck and flipped her over.
"Hold Troy!" shouted Ms. Malone as she handed the roamer to Fallyn.
Fallyn quickly grabbed the living corpse of Troy and watched as the rest of the group continued to fight off the roamers. Ms. Malone, however, ran in the opposite direction, moving towards Lincoln before tackling him.
"Lincoln!" yelled Ronnie Anne.
Annie grabbed Ronnie Anne's wrists and twisted them, causing her to cry out in pain. She then flipped her over back to the ground, placing her left arm against her neck as she watched her leader fight Lincoln, growing a smile on her face.
Ms. Malone placed her hands around Lincoln's neck as Lincoln tried grabbing her face. However, her face was just too far of a reach. She began choking him as he moved his hands towards her hanging hair.
Lincoln then grabbed her hair and pulled down, getting her face closer to his face. Then, using his fingers, he quickly poked her in the eyes.
"Ah! You piece of—!" yelled Ms. Malone as she released her grip.
Lincoln shoved Ms. Malone away from him and quickly knelt above her. He grabbed his M1911 and his Bowie knife before looking at Annie.
She gasped and quickly leaped behind the cover of a red Mustang as Lincoln fired off a few shots. Then, Ms. Malone grabbed his hands and tried to take the gun away from him, accidentally firing off a few shots.
Ronnie Anne panted as she stood up, holding her stomach. She stumbled towards the car she slept in and crouched inside. She grabbed her crossbow but was suddenly pulled outside the car. She looked up and saw Hargrove, who entered the car and reached for the atlas. He then came out and glanced down at her before running away.
"Now!" exclaimed Hargrove.
Gertrude nodded and dropped down her smoke grenades. Smoke poured out of the green canisters quickly as Desmond and Ira continued killing the roamers.
Piers looked at Hargrove and Gertrude. They glanced back at him and nodded. He nodded back. He ran into the smoke, pushing the roamers away as he moved through a narrow lane, surrounded by cars and buses. He then saw roamers ahead of him, forcing him to halt next to a bus with open doors.
"Hey, Piers, lemme' come with," said Owen, approaching from the back.
Piers looked back at him squeezing through the narrow lane. He then turned forward saw the roamers hanging around the other side of the bus exit.
"I would have made space for Sonya," said Piers. "Never you."
Owen grew confused as Piers reached into his pockets. Piers then tossed a knife into Owen's knees, causing him to fall down to the ground, catching the roamers' attention. Piers quickly entered the bus and allowed the roamers to leave the back exit. Then, after a few seconds, Piers ran out through the back exit, not looking back as Owen screamed in agony.
Ronnie Anne groaned as she grabbed her crossbow and aimed it at the smoke. Hargrove, Gertrude, Piers, and Owen were nowhere to be seen. She looked through the iron sight and only saw Desmond, Ira, and Fallyn. She then aimed her crossbow at Ira.
A stone quickly struck a roamer in the head as Ira placed another stone in his slingshot, moving away from the smoke. He then heard Owen's screams from the distance.
"Dez, what was that?" he asked.
"I don't know but that sounded like Owen," said Desmond. "Just leave him be."
A crossbow bolt then flew past them. They turned around and saw Ronnie Anne loading another bolt into her crossbow. Ira growled and ran towards her, though Desmond quickly chased after him.
Ronnie Anne then raised her crossbow and aimed it at Ira. Desmond, however, grabbed Ira and turned him around. He then flinched forward as blood leaked out his lips.
"Dez!" yelled Ira.
"Ignore her," said Desmond. "Just run away. Run away… as fast as you… can."
Tears flowed from Ira's eyes as Desmond continued shielding him from Ronnie Anne, stumbling forward. Ira then ran away, leaving Desmond behind as he fell to his knees.
Desmond placed his hand on the ground and turned around.
"Ronnie…"
Ronnie Anne fired another bolt into Desmond, hitting him in the chest. He coughed and fell forward, causing the bolt to pierce through his chest and out his back, standing next to the other bolt in his back.
Fallyn yelled as she walked towards Ronnie Anne, holding Troy in front of her. Ronnie Anne quickly grabbed Desmond's golden pistol and aimed it at Troy and Fallyn. She then pressed the trigger, though nothing came out. She pressed the magazine release switch and out came a wooden block.
"What?" she gasped.
She then saw Fallyn shove Troy towards her and quickly grabbed his shoulders. He turned him around and shoved him towards Ms. Malone.
Ms. Malone saw Troy approaching and grabbed the pistol from Lincoln while shoving him to the ground. She then saw the slide racked open, causing her to toss it down on the ground while pulling out her own revolver.
Ronnie Anne gasped as Fallyn grabbed her bow and her quiver. She quickly took cover in front of the car as Fallyn fired an arrow, grazing the headlights, and reached for Annie's knife on the hood of the car. Suddenly, she found herself pulled back by Annie, who wrapped Ronnie Anne's arms with her own arms and folded back.
"YAH!" screamed Annie.
"Let go of me— you crazy psycho!" yelled Ronnie Anne.
Fallyn swung her bow at Ronnie Anne's stomach, striking her with great force. Despite her coat taking most of the damage, Ronnie Anne still cried out in pain.
The roaming corpse that belonged to Troy growled as it approached Ms. Malone. However, it smelled another bag of flesh close by, so it moved its eyes and locked on to Lincoln. Its legs stumbled towards Lincoln as he held up his knife.
Ronnie Anne cried out once more as Fallyn dealt another blow to her stomach. She struggled to pull her arms forward, though Annie continued to fold them back.
"Harder!" yelled Annie. "Break the freakin' bow if you have to! We'll make you another one!"
Fallyn lifted her bow. Ronnie Anne panted as she mustered up all the energy she had and leaped upwards with both of her legs in the air. She quickly kicked Fallyn away from the car and onto another lane while simultaneously using this force to create an opposite reaction, shoving Annie back— slamming her head against a truck.
Annie released Ronnie Anne, causing her to fall down to her lap. Ronnie Anne quickly stood up and ran for the knife on the hood of the car.
Fallyn groaned as she reached for her bow on the pavement of the road. She then looked up and saw Ronnie Anne swinging Annie's knife down, slashing off Fallyn's left ear.
"AH!" shrieked Fallyn, dropping her bow. "W-Wha…!"
Fallyn reached for her open gash where her left ear used to be and panted wildly as she looked down on the ground. She saw Ronnie Anne's boot crush her ripped ear against the ground before feeling her quiver moving. She looked up and saw Ronnie Anne holding a knife in one hand and an arrow in her other hand.
Ronnie Anne thrust the arrow up her jaw and through her head. She then backed away, allowing Fallyn's body to drop faceforward. She looked down at her while panting and then looked at Lincoln, who was running away from Troy with Ms. Malone chasing him from another lane. She then saw Ms. Malone tackle Lincoln against a guard rail.
"Lincoln…" groaned Ronnie Anne. "I'm coming!"
Annie then wrapped her hands around Ronnie Anne's mouth and grabbed her arm holding her knife. She slammed her hand against the truck, causing Ronnie Anne to drop the knife. She then shoved her prey to the ground, kneeling above her as she began to punch Ronnie Anne in the face, over and over.
Lincoln punched Malone in the jaw. He then punched her in her left cheekbone. However, Malone resisted the punches and continued slamming him against the guard rail. She then wrapped her hands around his neck and held him against the rail. Lincoln looked down from the dizzying top height of the highway bridge and saw roamers roaming around the cars on the lower highway, some wearing the same clothing as the camp survivors that they raided yesterday.
"What's the matter?" huffed Malone. "Scared of heights?"
"Behind you…" muttered Lincoln.
Malone released Lincoln upon hearing the growl of a living roamer behind her. She quickly pulled out her revolver, though before she could lift it, she was shoved against the guard rail by roamer-Troy.
She looked deep into roamer-Troy's eyes as it chomped its teeth up and down. She then kicked the roamer back and lifted her revolver, firing at the roamer.
The bullet struck roamer-Troy in the forehead, causing the roamer to drop down within sight of Annie. She gasped as she then looked at Lincoln.
"Miss!" yelled Annie.
"It had to be done, Annie!" yelled Ms. Malone. "It had to be—"
Lincoln then shoved his Bowie knife into Malone's stomach, causing her to gurgle blood in her throat. Both Annie and Ronnie Anne looked at Lincoln with expressions of shock as he pushed her against the guard rail. He then pressed his left hand against her head, forcing her to look down at the lower highway while his right hand remained on the handle of the blade of his knife— which was still inside her stomach.
"You're the one who's afraid," muttered Lincoln.
Lincoln then slid his knife horizontally across her stomach, causing her intestines to slip out. Malone struggled to scream, but blood continued to gargle and squirt out of her mouth.
"Here. Let me help you conquer your fear."
Lincoln removed the knife from her stomach and took a step back as Malone continued to lean against the guard rail. He then kicked her forward, causing her to fall over the guard rail and off the highway bridge.
Ronnie Anne widened her bloodshot eyes, staring at her friend in shock before hearing a body crash onto a metallic and glassware object.
Lincoln looked down from above and saw Malone looking upward with all the bones in her body shattered as she lay on the roof of a car. Roamers surrounded her as she struggled to scream, though blood was already flooding across her lips and nose. Her body was then completely covered by roamers, leaving only her twitching fingers visible.
Tears bubbled in Annie's eyes. Veins appeared on her forehead, ready to pop. She stood up, leaving a beaten Ronnie Anne on the ground. She huffed and puffed before letting out a primal scream.
Lincoln held up his knife, aligning his bleeding hands with his tired eyes while glaring at Annie. He then bent down and grabbed his empty M1911 from the ground and placed it back in his holster.
Annie growled as she picked up her knife. She then smiled as tears flowed out of her eyes.
"I'm… I'm so gonna enjoy killing the two of you," she whispered.
Annie then picked up Ronnie Anne and slammed her against a crashed car in the middle of the lane while looking at the same direction where Lincoln stood. She then held out Ronnie Anne's hand against a car window and thrust her knife through her palm and into the window.
Upon hearing her scream, Lincoln yelled, the cold water vapors flowing out of his mouth like a dragon's breath. He then leaped forward, running towards Annie.
"Stop!" yelled Annie. "Move any closer and I'll slice her throat."
Lincoln panted as he looked ahead, crying as he grit his teeth. Annie punched Ronnie Anne's face. Over. And over. And over.
Ronnie Anne felt one blow after another— each blow feeling like a bag of rocks— growing stronger and stronger. Her vision began to lag and become increasingly blurry. She began to hear ringing in her ears. Her brain felt like it was pounding against her skull.
"You deserve this!" yelled Annie. "Fuckin' murderer!"
"I killed Troy!" yelled Lincoln.
Annie felt her fists shake as they neared Ronnie Anne's face. But they did not make contact.
"What?" gasped Annie.
"You wanted to hear a confession," said Lincoln. "Well— there's your damn confession. I killed your brother."
"You? Wh-Why?"
Annie removed the knife from Ronnie Anne's palm, letting her body slide down the car onto the ground. She looked at Lincoln with wrath.
Blood seeped out of Ronnie Anne's lips. She groaned and lifted her head as she struggled to focus her eyes on the object ahead of her. With all willpower, she corrected her double-vision and reduced her temporary photosensitivity by squinting, and focused on the object. It was Annie's leg that she was looking at. She leaped forward and bit into Annie's leg with her bloody teeth.
Annie screamed as she looked down at her left leg and shook it. She lifted it and kicked Ronnie Anne away from her, sending her rolling towards the guard rail.
Lincoln saw his chance. And he took it.
He ran forward and threw his knife, causing Annie to duck while he jumped up to the dented hood of the car. He then leaped out of the car and onto Annie, causing both of them to fall to the ground as Annie's knife clattered across the road.
"You…!" yelled Lincoln.
Lincoln lifted himself up to his knees and grabbed Annie's hair. He then punched her nose.
"...will never touch her…!"
He cracked her nose and slammed his fists on her eyes. Annie struggled to block his hits.
"...ever again!"
Lincoln punched Annie's lips, slicing it against her teeth. As he prepared to punch her once more, Annie placed her hands on Lincoln's stomach and pinched as tightly as she could.
Lincoln yelled before Annie swung her fist across his face. She stood up as Lincoln quickly regained his balance.
"You laid hands on… on my brother…" huffed Annie. "You killed him. Then you killed Ms… Malone…. You killed the only people I ever loved!"
Annie raised her fists and began to punch Lincoln repeatedly like a boxer. Lincoln blocked her hits with his arms, though he felt the pang of her knuckles clashing against his forearms.
"If you loved Troy so much…" grunted Lincoln, "...why did you hurt him?"
"Shut up! You know nothing about my life!"
Annie yelled as she kicked Lincoln in the ankle, dropping him to his knees. She then used her other foot to kick Lincoln in the ribs.
"I know… I know I would never do that… to my sisters…" groaned Lincoln.
Annie stood above him and looked down at him. Her fingers were trembling as some were bent out of shape. Blood leaked out of her knuckles. The skin around her eyes was purple. Dry blood stuck below her nostrils. Her choppy bob cut hair looked disheveled.
"So Lori isn't your only sister…" panted Annie as she looked around the highway, finding corpses littered around her. "Best pray I don't find your sisters. I'll do 'em… like I did Ronnie Anne…"
Lincoln grabbed Annie's ankles and pulled on them, though Annie quickly lifted her pulled leg and kicked his face. He groaned as Annie knelt down. She began punching him over and over.
"I smelled you a mile away. I'll find them easily!"
He reached for her head and pulled on her hair. He pulled her face close to his face. She spat at his face before reaching for her knife on the ground. Lincoln growled as he leaned his mouth close to her mouth.
"Sad little boy," whispered Annie. "I hope you're not thinking about giving me a kiss. That'd be pathetic."
Annie grabbed her knife on the ground and raised it. Suddenly, Lincoln opened his mouth and bit into Annie's broken nose, tightening his teeth as much as possible. Then, he ripped her nose out of her face.
Annie screamed as blood squirted out where her nose used to be. She dropped her knife on the ground as Lincoln released her hair, allowing her to pull herself away from him while reaching for her face. Lincoln spat out her nose and grabbed Annie's knife before standing up.
"This is for her," said Lincoln as he approached a shocked Annie.
Lincoln knelt down and lifted up Annie's coat. He swung his knife into her stomach, piercing through her intestines. He began to repeatedly shank her over and over as blood continued to seep out of her mouth. He then jammed the knife through Annie's open gash between her cheekbones, causing her to drop to the ground with the handle of the knife replacing her nose.
He looked around the highway bridge. Everyone was dead. Everyone but Ronnie Anne.
He bent down and grabbed his Bowie knife. He then approached Ronnie Anne and lifted her up.
"Dude…" groaned Ronnie Anne. "How… how could you…"
"What is it?" asked Lincoln.
"N-Nothing. What now?"
"We go back."
"T-To the school?"
"To the yellow house. It's closer. Plus, school's too risky. The ones who escaped… they may be waiting for us there…"
Lincoln placed Ronnie Anne's arms around his shoulders and bent down to pick up her crossbow. He then reached for the backpacks inside the car and wore one in front of his chest and the other one on his back. Then, he began to walk back across the highway bridge, leaving all the corpses behind.
-Next Morning-
Ronnie Anne looked around the woods. Tiny spots of snow remained on the ground while dirt with little saturation struggled to see sunlight. However, the gray sky made the entire woods seem quiet and dead.
She rubbed her face, which was covered in tiny strips of bandages and stitches. She then lifted her stick forward and continued hiking along the woods as Lincoln remained far ahead.
Lincoln also had many strips of bandages on his face. His bruised eyes looked straight ahead at the iron sight of Ronnie Anne's crossbow. He then pressed the trigger and sent a bolt across the woods and through the leg of a rabbit.
As the rabbit struggled to limp away, Lincoln bent down and pushed it against the ground. He then began cutting the rabbit's head off steadily before picking up the rest of its body.
"That's not how you kill a rabbit," said Ronnie Anne. "You're supposed to break its neck."
"It's easier to skin the rabbit like this," said Lincoln.
"Right, after you break its neck. Now the animal suffered. And the taste is gonna suck."
Lincoln began to skin the rabbit as Ronnie Anne looked around.
"Doesn't this place look familiar?" she asked.
"Yeah."
"Is this where you killed Troy?"
Lincoln remained quiet. He continued to skin the rabbit as Ronnie Anne looked downwards.
"You never told me what happened that night. I can't wrap my head around it but something tells me that whatever happened that night… it's eating you alive."
Lincoln looked up with guilty eyes. Ronnie Anne sniffled.
"What really happened?"
-31 Hours Earlier-
A hand was placed on the crossbow.
Troy kept his pistol aimed at Ronnie Anne, whose crossbow was then lowered by Lincoln.
"We're not going back," said Lincoln.
"You have to," said Troy.
"That group is evil. Everything that Malone has been doing— the brainwashing is unbearable. They're too far gone. Your sister is too far gone."
"She can still be saved, but only if you two come back and help me."
"There's no saving Annie," said Ronnie Anne.
"Shut up! There's no saving you! Annie kills because she wants to impress Malone! You kill to survive! How are you any different from Malone?"
Lincoln moved closer to Troy as he kept his hands up. Troy noticed this and tightened his grip around his pistol as he aimed towards Lincoln. Ronnie Anne raised her crossbow again.
"Hey, stay back!" yelled Troy.
"O-Okay, okay," stammered Lincoln.
Troy kept his arms stiff and his eyes aligned to the iron sights. Lincoln remained still.
"Correct posture, right?" said Troy. "Learned it from you. You're really helpful. Don't make me shoot you."
"Killing Malone will not tame those monsters," said Lincoln. "Staying there is only going to destroy me. I don't want to kill innocents. I don't want to ambush and slaughter people like a barbarian."
"It's done in a rule-based and orderly manner… we have to stay so that Annie doesn't get mad at us. I was wrong before. I was wrong to break the rules. That's the only reason why she hurt me before. But no more. We'll follow the rules… and Annie will no longer hurt me."
"I met people who did things in a rule-based and orderly manner. They killed my friends and family. I will no longer put up with it."
"I can't let you go… I have to follow the rules. Otherwise… Annie might go too far with hurting me."
"Then come with us."
"No!" exclaimed Ronnie Anne. "He's extra-baggage. He's a liability— shit, what can he do that we can't do ourselves?"
Troy turns his pistol towards Ronnie Anne.
"What are you trying to say?" he yelled.
"Hey, hey, relax," said Lincoln. "On me, Troy. On me."
Troy panted. Ronnie Anne kept her eyes on the iron sight of the crossbow. Lincoln simply watched as each of their fingers lay on the tip of their triggers.
The eerie silence was torturously long. The tension felt so high, that it seemed like a simple snap was all that was needed to create bloodshed. And all Lincoln could do is watch.
Ronnie Anne let out a soft exhale as he began to lower her crossbow slowly. Troy gulped and kept his eye on Ronnie Anne as the silence continued to overwhelm the woods.
Suddenly, an owl hooted.
In a split second, Ronnie Anne flinched and raised her crossbow towards the direction, causing Troy to instinctively press the trigger of his pistol.
The loud gunshot that followed caused the owl to raise its wing as the bullet flew across the woods, striking Ronnie Anne in the head. Or rather, the side of it. And she quickly fell down, dropping her crossbow.
Both the grazed bullet and the owl flew out of the woods.
"No!" yelled Lincoln as he ran towards Ronnie Anne, kneeling above her. "Ronnie! Oh my god! Wake up. Please wake up. Please… oh…"
Troy's lips trembled. He dropped his pistol and covered his mouth as he watched Ronnie Anne's body lay unconscious on the thin snowy ground, with blood stains on her head.
"Not again, not again, please," sobbed Lincoln.
Troy walked over to Lincoln, reaching for his shoulder. He then placed his hands on it, feeling an immense feeling of guilt washing over him.
"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to…" said Troy. "We can take her back… we can—"
Lincoln grabbed his hands and turned around as he stood up. Troy's eyes grew in fear as Lincoln grabbed his coat.
"YOU KILLED HER!" screamed Lincoln.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!"
Lincoln slammed Troy against a tree and began punching him over and over, cutting the stitches open below the bandages on Troy's face. Blood splattered onto Troy's eyes and down his nostril as he felt every punch tear apart his face.
"P-Please—!" wheezed Troy.
Lincoln wrapped his hands around Troy's neck and dropped him to the ground.
Troy struggled to crawl away, though all his legs could do is flail around. He tried to reach for Lincoln's neck, but could only tap and grab onto his sleeves as he gasped for air.
Lincoln grit his teeth as tears flowed out of his red face. He then let out a scream as he pressed even harder against Troy's neck, causing him to gag. He stared into Troy's bloodshot eyes as they stared back. Then, his eyes did not budge anymore. Troy's arms fell and his legs stiffened.
The eerie silence returned.
Lincoln panted and placed his knees upwards and his back against a tree as he looked ahead with a thousand-yard stare while blood leaked from his knuckles. Tears bubbled up in his eyes as his knuckles shook in the cold.
"No…" whispered Lincoln as he glanced at his knuckles. "Oh, god."
Lincoln's eyes began to blink as he realized what he just did. Horror and guilt quickly expressed itself through his eyes. His mind was racing. His heart was beating fast.
Then, he heard a noise coming from Ronnie Anne. He squinted and quickly crawled over to her. She coughed as she flipped herself over.
"Ronnie!" gasped Lincoln.
Ronnie Anne groaned as her eyes remained shut. Lincoln placed his fingers against her neck and felt it pulsing slowly. She then fell unconscious again.
He looked at her head. His eyes then stopped at her right forehead. A long line grazed across her hair where blood leaked out. He tried moving her hair to get a better look but ended up rubbing more blood onto it.
Lincoln looked at his own hands and then at Troy's corpse. His pupils contracted as he felt regret dig deep into his soul.
-Present Day-
Lincoln looked at Ronnie Anne's teary eyes. He kept a straight expression.
"He shot you in the head," said Lincoln. "He was gonna shoot me. So I killed him."
Ronnie Anne sniffled. She looked at a nearby tree and saw dried blood stains on it.
"I'm sorry," said Ronnie Anne. "Taking a life should never be easy. I'm sorry if I made you think otherwise. I'm so sorry."
Lincoln nodded. He then began to walk away, heading into the direction of the yellow house. Ronnie Anne quickly wiped her tears off her face and followed him.
The branches outside the window swayed softly while the cobwebs inside the carpeted room remained still. An air conditioner was taped to another window and connected to an outlet, but nothing blew out of it. Then, an uneven exchange of shouting outside the hallway grew louder.
Suddenly, the door to the room opened.
"—be so cruel?" shouted Ronnie Anne. "You looked like a freakin' animal out there!"
"They deserved it!" yelled Lincoln as he placed his Bowie knife on top of the drawer next to the PlayStation 4.
"You don't have the right to make people suffer. You end them as fast as you can and move on! For God's sake, you looked like a murderer in prison, shanking Annie like that!"
"She's the worst of them all!"
"Ah, I bet you got some pleasure out of making her suffer. Couldn't resist killing a girl our age like that, right?"
"You killed innocent people without remorse!"
"Who said I don't have remorse? I'm never going to be able to sleep well after what happened the past few days, okay? Just because I look like a tough girl meant I enjoyed killing them?"
"It's your dang fault!" exclaimed Lincoln. "You said we had to do anything to survive! You made me like this!"
"My fault?" scoffed Ronnie Anne. "I did not tell you to go overkill! Actually— how the hell is it my fault that you're so fucking cruel?"
"Oh, I'm cruel?"
"Yeah!"
"You let it go too far. You should have listened to me earlier and we would have left that hellhole without any trouble. And none of this would've happened. But you're selfish. So selfish that you killed innocent people so you could live. And then I had to follow up, simply because you didn't want to leave."
Ronnie Anne teared up.
"I-I killed innocent people so that you could live!" she cried.
"W-Why? I didn't need you to do that."
"I wanted to do it because I love you, you stupid idiot!"
Lincoln was speechless. Ronnie Anne sat herself on the lower bunk bed and cried softly to herself.
"Oh my god…" whispered Lincoln.
"I'm sorry," sniffled Ronnie Anne. "I shouldn't have pushed you to do it. I was just… I was just mad that you… I don't even know why I was mad. It's easy… to get lost in the heat of the moment."
Lincoln leaned his back against the window.
"I love you too," he said. "At least… I think it's love. I didn't get lost in the heat of the moment. I wanted Annie to suffer from the moment she started hurting you. I wanted her to feel the same pain that she… that she inflicted on you."
He then took off his shirt, groaning as he placed his hands above the bruised wounds on his chest. He then grabbed a bag of ice and placed them on his chest as he exhaled softly.
"Oh my god," sniffled Ronnie Anne. "What happened to your back?"
Lincoln raised his eyes and turned his head around, looking over his shoulders. He then rubbed his fingers across his back as he walked over to the bed.
"A bear attacked me like in the summer," said Lincoln. "Hurted real bad. Lori and Luan stitched me up, but I'm guessing the scars are never going to go away."
Ronnie Anne let a tear fall from her eyes as she placed her hands on Lincoln's back, stroking them softly against the scars. Lincoln quickly moved his shirt to place it back on as feelings of insecurity quickly overwhelmed him, but then paused as he looked into Ronnie Anne's eyes.
He then grabbed her hands.
"I'm not gonna be able to sleep well anymore either. But as long as you're alive… then it was worth it."
Ronnie Anne stood as she sniffled.
"I'm sorry for accusing you of enjoying it," she whispered. "I shouldn't have done that. I—"
"It's okay," said Lincoln. "I shouldn't have gotten mad either."
A tear dripped from her left eye as Lincoln moved her slowly by the window. Lincoln then placed a tissue on her face and wiped away the tears from her eyes and the side of her nose. He then looked into Ronnie Anne's glazed eyes as they blinked softly towards him. They stared at each other before leaning close to one another, holding each other's hands.
Then, they kissed.
Both survivors slowly released their lips from each other and embraced each other with a hug, keeping their eyes closed.
"Promise me that as long as we're together, you'll never be cruel again," said Ronnie Anne.
"I'm scared," whispered Lincoln. "What if I lose control again?"
"I'll understand. But I still need you to promise me."
"Okay. I promise."
Ronnie Anne opened her eyes. She then nudged Lincoln as she gasped. Lincoln opened his eyes, looking surprised.
"Oh my god!" smiled Ronnie Anne.
"What is it?" asked Lincoln.
"Look outside! It's them! It's really them!"
Both Lincoln and Ronnie Anne looked outside the window. Their eyes began to tear up again as a smile grew on their faces.
"They're alive," whispered Lincoln, wiping a tear from his face. "My family's alive."
End Credit Song
Obstacles - Syd Matters
Really long episode. Wow. Full of Lincoln/Ronnie Anne moments. Truly the episode to develop them the most.
Hope y'all enjoyed. Until the next time.