HOPE

"Pope"

"I was able to turn the page, leave my past behind and trust again, opening my heart to him.
Why couldn't he do the same?
I couldn't describe the helplessness I felt every time he went looking for his brother.
Would be he fine? Had something happened to him out there while he continued his mission?
I could understand his reasons for a while, I know how hard it is not to find answers to something that torments you, but the insistence can kill you, and I'm not willing to suffer losing him because he doesn't know when to stop. I'd rather face an army of the undead than do it again against the pain of losing someone you love.
Where did he belong to? In the river? With his family? Or with me? That was what I asked him hours ago when he told me that he would be leaving again for a few days.
"I don't know," was his answer.
A rustle in the undergrowth pulls me out of my deepest thoughts.
The sky was getting darker and darker, announcing the arrival of night.
I decided to go back to the cabin, it's not advisable to stay lying in the woods when it gets dark, I knew that Daryl would no longer be there so I was counting on spending the night alone but unfortunately,I was wrong.
When I opened the door to enter, a gale of force drags me into the house, knocking me down and impacting my body against a chair, my shotgun is thrown to another side of the room.
The weight of an stranger man with his hands gripping me painfully hard by the wrists keeps me glued to the ground. I try to fight but he's too strong.
Most of us think that when your time comes, you see a delicious light that blinds your eyes without hurting you. I can confirm that's a lie, because what I had in front of my face wasn't something heavenly,were eyes full of evil.
A laugh that comes out of the darkness of the cabin, already devoured by the shadows of the night, makes my captor's eyes stray to look in that direction. The man gets off me, but not without first getting my hunting knife, also laughing and leaving me a dull ache where his hands were. Without looking, I can already see bruises covering the area.
I stand up, bruised and looking for the source of the sound. Slowly I see a clean-shaven face appear with a hideous scar running vertically from side to side, from forehead to chin.
What I saw couldn't be true.

Well, well, well, finally we find her huh Nichols? "- the man slowly comes out of his hiding place, clapping his hands and allowing himself to be seen completely.-I'm glad to see you again Leah, you haven't changed. -His deep and disturbing voice comes out of the deepest part of his being.
He takes off his beret sarcastically in salute, putting it back on his head. He was still wearing our squad uniform and his gray hair was completely shaved.
I keep silence, not knowing what to say or how to react.
-"What's up darling?Aren't you gonna say hi to an old war partner?"

-"James, you're alive."-My voice is choppy.

-Incorrect! James disappeared a long time ago,I am "Pope" now". I think you already know my friend Nichols.-he says pointing to the person who attacked me.
-You see babe, when I led that herd of dead to our camp, I wasn't going to stay to meet the same fate as the rest, so I did the same as you, I run away. I ended up in an entire military base that turned out to be run by a bunch of douchebags, so I did what I had to, I took over.

-"I knew it."- My tears run uncontrollably down my cheeks.-From the beginning I knew that you had had something to do with it,you always wanted to be in control,even before the world went to shit so you tricked the few weapons we had to prevent ourselves from defending!

Bad things happen Leah,you should already know that... by the way,where is that kid of yours? Ah! But how forgetful I am,they bit him, didn't they? And what was his name? Marcus? Matt? Wait! Don't tell me, I think I already remember..."Matthew"
When I hear my son's name come out of his disgusting mouth, all the contained rage explodes out of me, furiously pounce on him and punching him in the nose,ready to stab him with my knife but I remember that I no longer have it with me, being easily knocked down again and pointed with a 9mm luger by his henchman. "Pope" laughs again as he puts his hand to his bleeding nose.
-Lower the gun Nichols, we need her alive, remember?