CHAPTER THREE:

TEST SUBJECT

Carrie had expected the onslaught of questions to occur in the cabin, but the dead - or walkers as the group she was held captive by called them - emerged through the tree line before most had finished their breakfast.

Rick quickly snapped the zip ties that held her ankles together and dragged her to her feet by the scuff of her neck. She was forced out of the door and into the onslaught of growls, foul smell and killings. The five walkers that had made it close were all quickly disposed of, and Carrie watched in awe as the group showed again how well they worked as a team.

The group had decided to move on from the cabin, not only was it not big enough to house them all, but also because every noise they made appeared to echo and attract more of the dead.

Carrie wasn't impressed when she was pushed to the front of the group as they made their way through the tree line and into the thick overgrowth. She understood their reasonings; they wanted to keep their eyes on her at all times, and they couldn't do that if she were stalking them from behind, but she wasn't in the mood to dodge any corpses that appeared from behind trees and into her path.

As they stalked through the woodland, she heard the snap of branches from behind her, and soon after, Sasha stood beside her, holding her gun expertly in her arms as she scouted the area around them.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

Carrie side-eyed her, "my hands are tied up, and I'm pretty sure I have a gun aimed at my head; how do you think I'm feeling?" she replied sarcastically.

Sasha smirked and dropped her head, "Okay, stupid question, I meant more after your seizure? Do they often happen?" her voice almost echoed concerned.

"That was the fourth one I've ever had," she replied honestly. "In the span of- well, I don't know how long."

Sasha nodded, seemingly deep in thought, as they stepped over a fallen tree.

"Tyreese, he's your brother?" Carrie questioned in an attempt to change the subject.

Sasha nodded proudly, glancing over her shoulder at her brother, who would fiercely protect the group. "Yeah, best brother I could ever have asked for. Do you have a brother? Or sister?"

Carrie shook her head, "no, it had always been just me, Mom and Dad."

A snarl came from their left, and Daryl quickly disposed of the oncoming walker with a crossbow shot. Besides the thump of its body hitting the ground, no other noise was made by the rest of the group that walked behind her.

Sasha continued their conversation as if the encounter had never happened, "were they with you before you ended up here?"

Carrie knew that Sasha's questioning wasn't idle chit-chat. She was trying to build trust and a bond to delve deeper into her darker past. She wasn't overly concerned; she knew if they allowed her to stay with them, then they would find out soon enough, but she wasn't prepared to reveal her story to a group of strangers that had held a gun to her head and had her hands bound behind her back.

"No, they live in Kansas; I moved away when I turned eighteen," she scoffed, "I thought it was the best thing ever, but now I'm left wondering if they're still alive. I won't fool myself into believing they are, but there's always that small part in my mind that hopes they are."

"Tyreese and I travelled from Jacksonville; I try not to wonder what may have happened to the friends I had there," she replied as she repositioned the gun in her arms. "I never caught your name?" she added absentmindedly.

Carrie stopped in her tracks, thinking for a moment. If they wanted to build trust, she needed to do the same, even if their attempts came with other intentions.

"It's Carrie," she replied as she stared at the woman beside her.

For a few seconds, Sasha stared back but soon smiled and continued walking. "It's nice to put a name to the face," she replied as Carrie took longer strides to catch up, not wanting to be reprimanded for falling behind.

Carrie said no more and continued with her journey. Sasha also stayed silent as she watched the area.

"Barn not far from here," Daryl spoke in hushed tones. "Took Beth here before-" he paused and looked around the group and decided against finishing his sentence.

"You and Carol, go ahead," Rick ordered, pointing toward the barn. "We will hold back. Sasha, keep hold of her. Don't want her making a run for it with our supplies if we get distracted by people or walkers."

Sasha turned to face Carrie. She looked somewhat apologetic when she clasped the zip ties between her hands and held tight as Daryl and Carol walked ahead, with the rest of the group following close behind but more cautiously.

Carrie sighed and opened and closed her fists to relieve her numbing hands. "I'm sorry, but can someone please pull my pants up before they end up around my ankles," she sighed, exasperated. "This is embarrassing enough as it is."

Sasha sighed and forced a stop, "Tyreese, take her hands," she ordered her brother.

Tyreese approached and replaced Sasha's hands with his own while Sasha awkwardly pulled up Carries pants and tightened the knot in the front.

Carrie sighed, "thank you. You don't have to hold onto me. I have no plans to run with my hands tied behind my back."

Tyreese opened his mouth to speak to the woman but was quickly interrupted.

"No, until you talk, you can stay exactly as you are. If not, we will find a vehicle and drop you far away," Rick said gruffly as he walked up behind her.

Carrie sighed and didn't say anymore. At that point, she was starting to question why she didn't at least attempt to escape back at the cabin, but she knew deep down all attempts would have been futile.

Carrie trudged along in sequence with Sasha, and soon, they arrived a hundred yards from a large barn. Carol and Daryl were patrolling the perimeter as they arrived. Daryl nodded to Rick, seeming not to need to use his words to communicate with the other man.

The group settled into the cabin. Carrie had been forced into a corner alone, but someone always had their eyes on her.

Maggie approached her with a water bottle in hand, "we're on rations; a few sips is all we can spare."

Carrie shook her head, "I've already taken up enough time, effort and supplies; let the boy or the baby have it instead," she said firmly, nodding towards Carl, who held his sister on his knee.

"Drink it, you'll need it. We are going for a walk," Rick said out loud before anyone could respond.

Carrie shook her head to Maggie, ignoring Rick's orders and nodded towards Carl and Judith again.

Maggie sighed, "don't be a martyr, drink."

Carrie shook her head and stood her ground.

The group had been in the cabin for no longer than half an hour before Rick took Carrie outside along with Sasha. She had tried to fight against leaving with him alone, worried that he had plans to kill her and leave her body for the dead to devour, but Sasha had insisted on joining them so she could cover them in case anything happened.

They walked silently until the barn was almost out of view before Rick removed his knife from his belt.

Carrie instinctively stepped back as he tested his grip on the knife.

"Rick-" Sasha spoke up as Rick approached Carrie. He firmly placed his hand on her shoulder before forcing her to turn around. Carrie gasped and closed her eyes, expecting to feel the pain of the blade slicing through her neck.

Instead, she felt his hand on her own before his grip loosened, and her arms dropped free.

Carrie stumbled as she turned her body and held her aching hands to her chest. She stared at Rick with wide eyes, trying to work out what his next move would be.

"Let's go," he said, walking ahead, leaving Carrie and Sasha to look at each other with confused looks.

Carrie's eyes flickered around the area, wondering how far she would be able to run before they caught up or put a bullet in her back. The decision to run or stay was difficult, but with a heavy sigh, she followed Rick, with Sasha close behind.

The silence was deafening, and they appeared to be walking without a purpose. Carrie opened her mouth to question Rick's intentions, but he beat her to it.

"So your name is Carrie?" he asked as he ducked under a low-lying tree branch.

Carrie followed suit, "yes." she replied shortly.

"So, Carrie, will you tell me what TS ninety-seven means?"

While she couldn't see his face, she imagined he was gritting his teeth in an attempt not to sound overly suspicious.

Before she had time to answer, Sasha called out to Rick, "Walkers looks to be six or seven."

Rick took his knife out of his belt, preparing to kill, but crouched and held his finger to his lips. To avoid the fight, Rick quickly moved ahead.

Carrie followed close behind, knowing she wouldn't be able to fight them alone if left behind.

Rick had been so focused on watching the walkers that he hadn't seen the one that had broken off from the small horde and was heading towards them. "To you left," Carrie hissed.

Rick's head shifted quickly, and he raised his knife in time to penetrate the walker's eye. He held onto the body, lowering it to the ground slowly so the noise wouldn't attract anymore.

The three moved quickly to distance themselves from the walkers. Carrie had hoped their encounter caused Rick to forget his questioning, but he soon spoke again.

"What does it mean, Carrie?"

Carrie sighed. She knew if she spoke about it, she would suffer from flashbacks, but she also knew if she didn't answer his questions, she could end up dead.

"It's a long story," she replied.

Rick looked to his side; his gaze was intense as he stared at her. "I can walk all night if that's what it takes."

Carrie took a deep breath, slowly giving up on her own insistence on keeping her trauma to herself. It was a single reassuring look from Sasha that had her opening her mouth to speak.

"Some time ago, I met a man; I had just lost my friends. I had insisted on going on the supply run by myself, and when I came back, they were all dead or roaming nearby," she began. Her eyes flickered between watching the invisible trail they were walking and his face. "He wasn't as friendly as he first appeared."

Rick didn't say a word, but Sasha spoke, "What happened?"

"Woah, I'm not a threat, I swear!" the man called out, holding his hands above his head as Carrie held her gun towards him. She had no ammunition to shoot him, but she hoped her futile attempt would scare him enough to leave her alone.

"What do you want?" she called back. The only other sounds were the flowing water of the river and the wind whipping through the trees.

The man hesitated to lower his hands, "I have a camp nearby; I was just out here hunting when I saw you. Thought maybe you would want to come back, eat, drink and rest up," he called out, taking a step forward.

Carrie held her gun firmly, keeping her target in sight, "I'm fine on my own; just go before I shoot you."

The man smiled softly, "my name is Adrian Paul Carlise," he began, "I'm forty years old; I had a wife and two daughters. They were six and four. They-they turned."

Carries hands shook, and she lowered the gun slightly as he continued to talk.

"I used to work for the Centres for Disease Control. I've seen some crazy shit, but this, it's scary, and no one should be alone. My group, they're good people."

Carrie lowered her gun; he came across as genuine and honest, "Where's camp?"

"Roughly twenty miles east," he called back, slowly approaching her.

Carrie furrowed her brows, "you walked all this way?"

The man shook his head and laughed, "no, I have a truck hidden near the main road; there's not much to hunt where we are, so I travel further out."

By this point, he was only a few feet away, and Carrie was tired and desperate, "I keep my weapons," she insisted.

The man nodded rapidly, "of course."

As Carrie explained her story, she was met with brief but curious glances, but neither said a word until she finished.

By this point, she noticed their surroundings becoming familiar, and the barn came back into view.

"That doesn't explain the scrubs, the hospital bracelet," Rick stated.

Carrie sighed in frustration, "he lied. He had a camp, yes, but it wasn't what he made me believe it was. When we got to his car, someone hit me on the head from behind. I was knocked out. I don't remember getting there, but when I arrived, I was strapped to a table."

Rick stopped in his tracks and turned his entire body to face her. Carrie mirrored his movements.

His expression was unclear; he appeared confused and curious, and a sense of recognition flowed over his features.

He rubbed his hand across his chin while his other balanced on his hip, "what were they using you as a test subject for?"

Carrie crouched and ran her hands through her hair. She let out a heavy sigh as she battled against her thoughts and emotions, "they injected me with what they were calling the WD-22 vaccine. They think there's a cure for all this, but they don't have willing citizens ready to participate, so they pick up survivors and use them as lab rats," she stood up quickly and pointed her finger at Rick, "you have no idea what I've had to endure, the pain, the side affects!" she shouted.

Sasha sighed hopelessly and reached out to comfort her, but Carrie stepped away.

"Before I escaped, they were planning to let the dead bite me to confirm whether the vaccine worked. If it had, they'd have put me through hell, experimented on me, drawn more blood in one sitting than any doctor has in my entire life. They are sadistic fucks! A bunch of deranged rogue scientists who think they're doing the world a favour by using any remaining survivor they find to experiment on."

Rick tried to speak, but she cut him off quickly, flailing her arms around as she spoke.

"Don't dare even let it cross your mind to test their sick theories. I'm not cured, I'm not immune, I'm the same as everyone else. When I ran through their compound, they had rooms filled with walkers, but they didn't arrive there dead; they turned them with their experimenting," she shouted angrily.

"It hasn't crossed my mind and never would-"

Carrie finally allowed another emotion to take over as tears spilt from her eyes, "Please don't make me tell you anymore. If you want me dead, then just do it. Don't give me false hope, just do it. Please," she begged. She dropped to her knees in front of him.

Rick looked down at her sadly and looked at Sasha.

Sasha took hold of Carrie's shoulders and pulled her back up to a limp standing position, "Let's get back; the sun is almost set."