We're not living, we're surviving

16

Hahahahahahahahahahahhahahahaha love me.

The only thing running through my mind was how buzzed I felt. The idea of getting off the farm, of killing anything that gets in my way was exciting. Sure, I'd been told more than once not to do anything stupid, and I'd sure as hell try not to put anyone else at risk, but I couldn't promise about getting myself killed. And right now I didn't care if I didn't make it back. At least I was finally leaving this farm.

The car slowed to a stop, but no one got out. Rick, Glenn and Daryl were in the car ahead of Tyreese Shane and I. It seemed my coming along meant we had to use more fuel than they'd originally planned for, but this town looked untouched. Who knows, we could find the motherload of fuel stashed in someone's basement. From the looks of things, there were few Walkers around, too. I could only see one from where I was sitting, but it was laying on the ground. An easy kill.

As soon as we saw movement from the other car, we stepped out ourselves. With my bat held tightly in one hand I felt as ready as I could be. While everyone checked their guns, I felt more than happy with just my bat. I'd gotten out of many tight spots with nothing more than this, besides, I wasn't entirely certain I was ready for a gun just yet. But Shane seemed to think otherwise.

A gun thrust in my direction, held out expectantly for me to take it. But I could just stare at it.

"Take it, Emilia. I need to know if it goes balls up in there, you can protect yourself and us," a gesture between himself and Tyreese. "Take it." 

Somehow, his words were kind but it sounded like he was dismissing me as a weaker member of the group. Narrowing my eyes, I snatched the gun from him and shoved it down the back of my trousers. The cold weight of it pressing into the small of my back immediately made me feel nervous, like it was summoning bad luck. But if it made Shane happy, then so be it. After all, he might be a jerk, but he was the jerk that got me on this scouting mission in the first place.

I looked over to Daryl, a small smile appearing on my features, but before I could see if he smiled back, Rick was talking.

"You know the teams, listen to the leader and don't do anything stupid. Getting back alive is more important than getting food."

And with that everyone started moving. Shane leading the way into the first shop, Tyreese close behind. My fingers clenched tighter around the bat, ready for anything. It had been cleaned out, a few cans on the floor without labels. It'd be a lucky dip to find out what was inside them. Nobody picked anything up yet, though. It was more important to check the area out first.

Shane gestured for Tyreese to go left, and for me to go down the middle; he was to go right. It surprised me a little that he was trusting me to do this by myself, I'd already bet that he'd make me stick by his side. But this was much more preferable.

With a nod, I stepped forwards, careful not to make any noise as I made my way down the aisle. I wasn't going to be the one to get us all killed.

Through the shelves I could see Tyreese and Shane moving down their aisle, thankful for a clear line of sight. Movement ahead caused my eyes to snap to the front. There was something else in here. I didn't think it was possible to tense any further than I already was, but I acheived it. A quick glance to either side to see if Shane or Tyreese had seen it, but neither one seemed to be fased. I took a deep breath and pressed forwards, looking at the ground briefly every now and then to check I wasn't going to step on anything.

Suddenly, something grabbed my leg causing me to fall to the ground, my bat dropped out of reach. Breath hitching, eyes wide as I desperately tried to get free but none of my attempts were working. It was a Walker, it's teeth getting dangerously close to my leg. Kicking at the corpses head, flesh falling free with each blow, the situation was quickly becoming desperate as two more Walkers stumbled towards me.

With a final blow, my leg was free for just long enough for me to scoot away, grabbing up my bat and slamming it into the Walker who'd grabbed me's face hard enough to split the skull, it's brains leaking out onto the floor.

But there was no time to stand.

There was no time to get free of the other two.

A whimper escaped my lips, this was going to be the end of me.

A shot rang out, then another, both Walkers falling on top of me. Dead. I was pinned to the ground, the black, congealed blood dripping onto my face. Struggling to push the weight of two people off me, I squirmed free and stood up, checking myself for any injuries but I was okay. We were all okay.

"I gave you the gun for a reason, Emilia." Shane stated, "Next time, use it."

He had a point, but there were only three Walkers. I told myself I hadn't wanted to risk the noise. That I thought I could cope. But the reality was that I didn't want to use it. The cold metal object up until a few days ago was something of a life saver, now it was a death sentence.

And it terrified me.

But I'd have to get over my fear sharpish as a chorus of thumps echoed through the shop. The gun shot had attracted the dead, and there was more of them than I had ever seen.