Chapter 32: Getaway Car

Slowly, the light started to flood into her vision. So bright, that she needed to cover her face. Riley blinked and sat completely still for a minute as her senses began to come to. First, her hearing. Only the silence met her ears, with an occasional growl from a nearby walker. Then, it was her taste, or rather lack of taste. More like the feeling of cotton in her mouth and the cracks of her chapped lips. Finally, it was the pain. Achy and dull in her side and soreness stretching across her arms and legs.

A tired groan escaped her lips and she pulled her hand away from her face, trying to adjust to the light that was blaring down on her. How long had she been out? Honestly, she didn't care. She was just grateful she was even alive. Where was she exactly again?

Blinking the film from her eyes, she slowly turned her head, only seeing a vast gap between her and the forest across from her. And a deep trench below when she turned to look down. That's right. The walkers chased her to the cliff and she jumped up to an outcropping.

Slowly, she sat up, her wound groaning in protest. It didn't hurt as badly as it did when she first had it, but it still hurt very badly. She gently unwrapped the jacked from around herself and then slowly lifted her shirt to get a good look at her wound. It was slightly puffy with deep red at the center and dried blood caked around it. Carefully, she pressed her fingers against opposite sides of the wound, wincing as the pain increased. But she got a look to see how deep it was and see if she had hit anything important. So far, it looked like she had only hit muscle. That was incredibly lucky. Still, it was deep enough to need stitches.

She took a glance around, spotting a few walkers still on the cliff below and none of the group. They hadn't found her for however long she had been here and she had no idea how to get back to Alexandria from here. First thing's first, she needed to get off this outcropping and she could try and figure out where to go from there.

Her feet were very unstable when she stood and she wobbled for a few seconds until she gained her balance. There was no way she was going back the way she came, so she had to go up. It would be a small climb before it seemed to level out. Still, making any sort of climb with her injury would be very difficult. But she had to do it. She couldn't stay here all day without any food or water.

Taking a deep breath, she slowly moved toward the wall of rock, looking up it and placing a hand on a chunk of the rock. You can do this. Try not to think about it.

Bracing herself for the pain, she pushed herself up, latching onto the nearest hold with her other hand. The throbbing in her side intensified to a fiery pounding sensation and she gritted her teeth to stile a groan, resting her forehead on the side of the rock for a moment to catch her breath. Her arms were trembling from the force of holding herself up so she knew she would have to scale up quickly to avoid losing her grip.

Riley sucked in a breath and pushed herself up, doing her best to ignore the pain growing with every movement. She tried to push up more with her legs than use her arms, but either way it still hurt like a bitch.

Halfway up, her foot slipped and she slid down a few feet, a jagged rock slicing up her arm on the way.

"Fuck," she swore, panting heavily and trying to find the breath to continue up.

The more she climbed, the harder it was to breathe over the intense pain. But she was not about to fall to her death without a fight, so she dug her feet into the rock and pushed herself up one last time. A cry of relief escaped her throat as she hauled herself up and over the top of the rock. She rolled over on her back and took a moment to breathe and try to clear the spots from her vision. She got a look at her arm to see the damage and luckily it only looked like a shallow cut and should clear up without any help.

Taking a glance around, she realized she was in a woods, probably not too far from the place where she initially fell down the mine. If she could get back there, maybe she could figure out how to find a way back to Alexandria.

She checked her pockets and realized she didn't have any weapons on her. She must've dropped her gun when she fell and left the knife back in the mine. It was just another thing added to the list of things she needed to collect before nightfall.

Slowly, she sat up and then got to her feet. Even walking was difficult, but she pushed forward, stumbling a bit as she walked stiffly through the trees. She figured that if she went deeper in the woods, she could possibly find out exactly where the mine buildings were and hopefully find something useful.

It unnerved her slightly how little noises there were around her, but she was grateful there were no walkers. Fighting one without a weapon and an injury would be pushing it.

As they day slowly crept on, she remained quiet and as alert as she could be. She wondered what the others had thought of the situation. Probably that she was dead. Would that mean Carl thought she was dead too? He'd already been through so much and she would have for him to be mourning her when she didn't exactly die. Or at least not yet. It was very possible she could die on the way back.

With no sign of anything familiar in sight and the sun already overhead, she knew she would have to bunker down soon. She needed to at least find water first.

Gingerly, she bent down to feel the soil with her blood-caked fingers. Slightly damp. Water had to be close. She checked for the most green growth, finding that more of it was to her left, and headed in that direction. The best part of her day was when she spotted that puddle.

It was shallow, murky, and likely extremely infected with bacteria, but she could only hope her body killed those off because she needed this. Since her hands were covered in dry blood, she bent her face down to slurp up some of the dirty water. It tasted earthy and gritty, but it was heaven on her tongue and seemed to awaken her body a little bit. She didn't know how long she had been out or how much blood she lost. Fluids were needed pretty badly.

She drank until the puddle was just a small sheet of mostly mud and wiped her lips on her shirt collar. With that off the checklist, she took a moment to look at the sun again. Still enough to keep moving. Even though her body protested, she couldn't stay stationary.

For another twenty or so minutes, she wandered until the trees split into a road. For the first time since she woke, a small smile lit her features. A road was getting somewhere. If she could find a road sign, she might be able to figure out where she was and how to get back. So she decided to go right and head down the road until she could find a road sign somewhere.

The sun beating on her neck sent sweat rolling down her back. All that liquid she drank from the puddle was likely already out of her body by now. The thirst would start up soon.

As she trekked down the road, she started to hear tires. Her head whipped around and she tried to look to figure out where it was coming from. There were numerous vehicles, which was why it was a little difficult to tell where it was coming from. She only figured it out when she saw the two trucks coming from up ahead. From this distance, she could tell they weren't familiar, so they couldn't be from Alexandria.

When that fact clicked in her mind, she scrambled toward the woods. The engines roared toward her and she knew they spotted her before she got a chance to run. She blindly ran through the trees, trying not to keel over from exhaustion in the process. More sweat dripped down her neck and she breathed heavily, her side stinging with each movement. A walker suddenly reached out to her and she swerved to the side to avoid it, tripping over a tree root in the process.

Riley's hands snapped forward to brace her fall, but even so she rolled a few times before coming to a complete stop on her back. She coughed, groaning as she tried to blink through the haze covering her eyes. Something pounced on her and she screamed instinctively, latching onto the shoulders of it and holding it away. Her eyes focused and she looked up at the rotten teeth inches away from her face.

Her arms trembled under the weight of holding it. The best thing she could hope for was that whoever those people were, they were actually her group and were coming to help. Because at this rate, she was going to get bit.

Her heart squirmed painfully in her chest and she bit down on her lip so hard it started to bleed. Just when she thought that her arms would give way, the walker was ripped off her body. She gasped for air, eyes frantically darting around to try and see who had just saved her. A group of men surrounded her, one of them closer to her than all of the rest.

He seemed older, with a fuzzy mustache and wild grey hair sticking up in all different places. A grin sat on his face and he put his hands on his hips, looking down at her.

"Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes! You didn't get gnawed on by one of those nasties, did you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Slowly, she sat up, looking at him in bewilderment. He didn't seem to mind her shock, though.

"Look, I know we're a bunch of strangers to you, but you can trust us. Here, if it helps, my name is Simon. And these guys here are a bunch of my buddies. We're all part of the Saviors."

Saviors? Was that a group name or something? No matter what this guy called himself, she didn't plan on giving him an ounce of anything. She was surrounded, yeah, but they hadn't even raised their guns at her.

Simon sighed and gestured to some of his men. "Alright, just check her and make sure she's clean, would you?"

Three men advanced toward her and she scrambled backwards. "Get away from me!"

One of them grabbed her arm and the other grabbed her legs. This didn't keep her from flailing as hard as she could, but in her weakened state, she wasn't as strong as she would be in her healthier state. The guy that had her arms pinned them down above her head and the one at her legs held them steady. The third man took a glance at her arm.

"Cut on her arm," he said, poking at it and causing light pain to shoot up her arm. At least it wasn't the arm she had injured back when the Wolves invaded, though that had healed already.

"Anything else?" Simon prompted.

He bent down again and grabbed her shirt collar, probably to try and check her neck and collarbone for any bites, but he was close enough for her to attack from there. Craning her neck, she grabbed onto the finger closest to her mouth with her teeth and chomped down as hard as she could.

"Shit! Sonuvabitch!" he swore, shouting and retracting his hand, holding a dangling pinky finger in front of his face.

The man holding her arms let go of one and swiftly smacked her across the mouth. "You little bitch!"

"Ay, ay, take it easy, fellas. She's just a scared little girl, don't know what's happenin', ain't that right honey? How old are you?" Simon asked.

"None of your damn business," she spat, chest heaving as another man came forward and lifted up the hem of her shirt, exposing her knife wound.

"Hot damn! Is that a stab wound? How'd you wind up with that? Alright fellas, let her go."

They let go of her at the same time and retreated, probably not wanting to be the next bite victim. She quickly pulled down her shirt and sat up, her body snapping in protest.

"Look, you're probably gonna die from that. I'm offerin' you a chance to come with us, have a doctor look at you. I think Negan would like that fire in you. You're a tough kid, could be useful to us."

Negan? She shook her head and growled, "I'm not going anywhere with you."

Simon stared at her for a minute before sighing and then clapping his hands together. "Okay! I was tryin' to give you a chance but at this point, I'm having no other choice."

A few more of the men moved toward her again and she violently stood, gasping as a sharp pain hit her and warm liquid started to drip down her front. Hands latched onto her legs and arms and she was hoisted up into the air.

"Get off!" she shouted, voice hoarse.

None of them responded, even as she squirmed and screamed until nothing came out. Two of them shoved her into a darkened truck bed and held her down as another grabbed some rope. By the time they started to tie her wrists, she was clocking in and out of consciousness, the pain and energy use from trying to escape being too much for her body to handle.

She slowly went limp after they finished tying her up and her head lolled against the bottom of the truck as it started up. She tried her hardest to stay awake. But she was too exhausted and she slowly drifted off despite trying her hardest not to fall asleep.


Riley woke to arguing. She couldn't quite make out the words at first, but as she slowly grew more and more aware, she realized that the shouts were frantic and panicked. Where was she? What was going on? She tried to move, but her wrists were stuck together on her stomach and her body was more sore than it had ever been. It felt like she was in a furnace, but she still felt cool chills crawl up her spine.

"Just watch the door, make sure none of them get too close and the girl doesn't wake up!" she heard Simon demand, to which he got a feeble "yes sir" in response.

She peeled her eyes open, taking a look around the small, dark space she was in. Gunshots echoed from the outside of the space and she heaved a breath. This man that Simon must have been talking to was across the way from her, peeking out a crack in the door with a rifle in his hands. He hadn't noticed that she had woken up. Would it be safe to try and get past him? It sounded like there was a lot going on outside...if she could get him out of the way, she might be able to get away without anyone else noticing.

She hated the thought of actually having to move because she was in so much pain and she felt like shit, but these people could hurt her and her survival instincts were already rushing adrenaline into her bloodstream.

Trying to make as little noise as possible, she slowly sat up, keeping her weary eyes locked firmly on the man in front of her. Everything got dizzy for a second and she almost coughed, but quickly stifled it with her hand. In a crouch, she moved toward him, breathing heavily with each exhausting step. When she was close enough, she brought her bound hands around his neck and pulled.

He gasped suddenly, dropping the rifle and squirming as she constricted his air with the rope holding her wrists together. His weight nearly dragged her down and he was much stronger than her in her state, but the element of surprise had been on her side as she had gotten him strangled up for a few seconds before he responded, which allowed her to get a deep tug into his throat.

Thrashing around, he grabbed at her hands, but she only pulled harder, her arms trembling. His struggles were slowing down and she felt a rush of relief as a quiet snap echoed inside of the truck bed and the man went completely limp. Her body heaved and she took a moment to rest, letting her forehead press against the cool side of the truck and her eyes squeeze shut. Adrenaline was already failing her and she shut her eyes, black starting to engulf her once more. She was so tempted to give in and fall asleep again, and she almost did, but she forced herself awake. Half of the work was already done.

Riley grabbed the rifle and pulled the strap over her shoulder, taking a moment to search the man for any more weapons. He had a knife on him and she took that too, though it was pretty big for her size. Slowly, she scooted out of the back, crouching on the ground and taking a moment to peek around the side to see what was going on.

The gunshots were less frequent and she could see a small herd gathered in front of them as well as a barrier across the road made of cars. They must've had to stop because of that and the walkers were coming out of the woods. It was a good enough distraction, but it wouldn't last long.

She scooted toward the other truck right next to the one she had just come out of. If she was going to get away, she couldn't have them following. With the knife she stole, she moved forward and jabbed it into the side of the back tire. It was surprisingly difficult and took her a minute to even get the tip of the blade into the rubber, but after a moment and enough force, it went right through. She wiggled the knife a few times to get the gash a little wider before pulling it out and falling on her back.

Sucking in a shaky breath, she turned on her knees and went to the side of the other truck she came out of. But just as she was about to do the same process to this truck, a shout alerted her.

"Hey! The girl!"

She swore, looking up to see that one of them noticed her and was running back toward the group, shouting and gesturing in her direction. There was no way she could run anymore in the condition she was in. She had the gun, but rifles weer hard to reload fast and she didn't think she even had a enough ammo for all of them. However, the truck...the truck was an option.

Scurrying away from the tire, she limp-jogged to the driver's side, yanking the door open and climbing in. The first thing she did was lock the door and then check to see if they left the keys in the ignition. Yes! They were dangling right where she needed them and with trembling hands, she turned the key.

The engine roared to life and she ducked as a bullet came right through the window, embedding itself where her head had been a second ago. She frantically put the truck in drive and then slammed her foot on the gas, causing her to lurch forward. They were shouting and shooting, but the truck was already going to fast that she ran right through the walkers and the barrier of cars. The hood of the truck bent up awkwardly, but she could see enough and didn't stop.

It was only when she got far enough away that she couldn't see them that she realized it was almost dark out. With panting breaths, she flipped on the lights and drove as fast as she could down the road, not stopping for a single thing.


A/N: So I have A LOT of stuff to tell you guys in terms of this story. The main thing being, as you possibly noticed, I've updated on a Friday. From here on out, I'm going to update Fridays. I think it would just be better since so many people are either working or at school throughout the week and Sunday nights doesn't give a lot of time for you guys to read so it would be better if I updated a Friday night so you guys can have the whole weekend. Around 6pm is when I should be updating.

Secondly, I have a change in regard of how often I update. I've decided during the times when the Walking Dead is airing (basically October-March) I'll update on a weekly basis. During the time when the show is on break (April-September), I'll only be updating once a month. This is largely due to the fact that I want to have a decent cluster of episodes in front of me so that I can keep major canon events. If I continued writing every week over the summer. I'd be WAYYY past the end of season 7. Another reason for this is also because I have a HUGE amount (I swear like 40 or so) of other stories I really want to write and I need more time to juggle writing those, this, and with regular school/work. I have two Fear the Walking Dead stories coming up, one starting in June, that I really want to start so I do need a bit more time. There's not enough time in the day, ahhh!

I hope these changes aren't too bad and that it's alright with you guys!

Another thing, I ended up posting the Carl POV chapter as a separate oneshot last weekend, so if you haven't gotten to see it, it's up on my profile! I didn't want to clutter this story with it since it's a shift in POV and very similar to the last chapter. It's called You Are My Sunshine and I think that I may most a few other Carl POV chapters up there from now and again, maybe even some other random fluff chapters that were too short/not important enough to add into this story.

ANYWAY! So that's all I think I have to say? If I think of anything else, I'll post it to my Twitter.

I want to thank you guys for being SOO awesome. Seriously, you're the best readers ever and I love reading your reviews and seeing your thoughts on everything. I still get so giddy whenever I see follows or reviews for you guys c: So I really hope you enjoyed this chapter! Have an awesome day! :D