Malevolent. The Walking Dead

[ 033 ] no escape

Bill huffed, leaning back in his seat and anxiously bouncing his leg. Joey reached forward and grabbed his hand to gain some sort of comfort, but it didn't really work. Both of their hands were shaking.

After they got out of the eye sight of the Saviors, Abraham pulled over on the side of the road so that Eugene could cook up a route from the map provided. They wanted visibility—to see the Saviors from a distance so they could avoid them at all costs. Joey and Carl sat by the window—although Joey didn't want to be near him—and watched the rotters in the field outside wander through the grass. Carl looked at her, but Joey tried her best not to look at him, although she wanted to so badly.

"I'm sorry for trying to keep you back there. I just—don't want anything happening to you." He whispered, trying to make it so no one would hear their petty, adolescent argument. Joey grew slightly red and blew out air from her nose. "If we're going to do this, you know...this," She gestured between the both of them, "Then you need to stop acting like I'm not my own person."

Carl was quiet, looking down at the ground as the trailer began to move. Maggie shifted in her sleep and the pair of them brought their voices down even lower. "I just care about you, Joey."

She sighed, shaking her head. "You know me. You know how I am. If you keep treating me like this—we're never going to get better. We'll always be like this." Joey was tired of everyone treating her like she was about to break—like she couldn't take care of herself. Every time she thought she proved herself to them, it was like they just continued to treat her like she was an infant. If Carl kept treating her like this, when he was the only one who understood her the way that he did, she wouldn't be able to look at him anymore. Everything was getting harder and harder to stomach.

"I know. I'm uh—I'm sorry." Carl murmured, moving forward to wrap his arms around her shoulders as she was sitting down. Joey wrapped her arms around his waist, closing her eyes and trying to melt into him. There was an abrupt screeching from the brakes as the trailer halted to a stop. "Bitch nuts." Abraham groaned, and everyone moved to try and get a look out of the front window. Everyone moved to let Rick to the front, and Bill reached to delicately hold onto Joey's arm.

"We making our stand?" Sasha asked, and Rick, contemplative, continued just to stare at the barricade of Saviors blocking their path. Carl loomed over Joey's shoulder. "Yeah. We end it."

"No. Not now." Rick pushed. Joey looked at him, and didn't know whether she agreed with him or not. She knew that nothing was going to get better until they fought, or until they gave the Saviors half of their belongings. She knew nothing would get better until one of them was dead. Rick was being complacent—which wasn't like him. Joey could tell Carl was thinking the same thing, too.

"They've been waiting. They're ready. With one of us behind the wheel, that's eight on sixteen. We're gonna play it our way, how we want it," He turned around to look at Carl. "Right?"

Carl looked at Joey, and then looked at Rick again, nodding. "Right."

Joey released a hefty breath and turned around to look at the line of cars and Saviors again. Her heart was racing, to the point where she could feel it in her ears. Rick pat Abraham on the arm. "Alright—go slow." Everyone took out their guns as one of the Saviors shot multiple gun shots in the air, and they all swarmed the windows. Joey kept both her hands on the gun and held it up to the window. Multiple shots rang out in the air as Abraham slowly pulled away.

Carl moved over in his seat so Joey could sit down with him. She watched the trees whirring by in the window, awkwardly reaching to hold his hand. It was sweaty, and she tried not to laugh as he stiffened up. Soon, the trailer screeched to a stop again, and everyone shot up to look out the window. "What the fuck." Joey muttered, peering out over the drivers seat to see a line of rotters chained together, blocking the road.