Deadland

Chapter 14- Flinch

"I'll tell Glenn about-" "Fine." I mumble through gritted teeth. "But for the record there is nothing to tell him." "Swear on my life?" "Yes." I see something shatter in Alyssa's eyes. "Look 'Lyss. It's cute that you want me and Glenn to get together so bad but sometimes these things just can't happen." "I know." She says, nodding and looking at her feet. 

She looks back up at me and says, "But I'm still comin' with." I scoff and agree. 

"Adrian!" Rick calls. "What's up?" I respond, jogging to where him, Shane, the pale guy, Andrea, Dale, and T-Dog are. 

"I'm gonna have you go with Andrea-" "No." I interrupt. "Oh come on Adrian." Rick pleads. "If you make me go with her I'll either shoot her or myself." I glare at Andrea. "Probably both." I look back at Rick and raise an eyebrow. "I'll go with just Alyssa." "No. Alyssa's not coming." My dad orders. 

"Yeah she is. She needs to learn how to be out there in case something happens. She ain't ever gon' learn that if you never let her leave the property. Plus, she's with me." "And that's supposed to make him feel better?" Andrea mumbles. I step closer to her. 

"You wanna say that to my fuckin' face instead of being a pussy and sayin' it under your breath?" She just stammers, I think I caught her off guard. 

"Adrian." My dad warns. 

"Yeah yeah." I step away from Andrea, glare at her, and walk back to the map. "'Lyss and I will take here." I point to a creek. "It connects to the one we were following before so I think it should be good." "Okay, good." Rick marks our names down on the map and I walk away. 

"Grab your shit, 'Lyss. Let's get a move on." She smiles and grabs her machete and ties her hair in a ponytail, pulling out a few strands to frame her face. 

"Damn, Rapunzel." She smiles. 

Alyssa and I have been trekking through the woods for about an hour now. 

"...and that's how I knew that pig felt the pain when you gutted it." 

I groan and throw my head back, "It was dead 'Lyss. Dead. D-e-a-d. That means it couldn't feel anything." 

"How do you know? You've never been dead..." Her words slowly trail off. The memory of my dad and her sitting in the hospital room after my attempt floods my brain. I know it floods hers too. 

I stop and turn to her, she's stopped walking and her lip is quivering as she's looking down at her feet. I sigh and walk over to her. 

"I'm alive now, aren't I?" I say, kneeling in front of her. She nods, not looking at me. "But what if you weren't?" "We don't do what ifs-" "But what if you weren't!" She yells looking at me. 

"I don't know Alyssa! Because that's not how it is! I'm alive right now! So stop worrying about what I did in the past because no matter what you do you cannot change it!" She sighs, tilting her head. 

"You're one of the bravest people I know, Adri. The fact that pushed you over the edge scares me." "This time I've got people." I feel like my backpack is glowing with the drugs that I took from that car but I don't do anything. 

"I've got you, dad, Glenn." I can't think of anyone else who would really care enough to stop me from overdosing again. "Glenn." "Alyssa." I warn.

"Sorry, instinct." She says, smiling. I smile slightly and stand up, rustling her hair. "Hey! My hair-" A crunch catches our attention.

I turn quickly and see a Walker wandering towards us, growling and stumbling quickly. I look at Alyssa and see straight determination in her eyes.