Deadland

Chapter 43- Jean Vest

"It's okay to be scared, 'Lyss. Everybody gets scared, some people are just better at hiding it than others." I motion for her to sit and her and I sit next to each other on the steps. I turn my body to face her and she does the same. 

I take a second to admire her features. Her platinum blonde hair, blue eyes, and her freckles. Her sharp jawline and her rosy red lips and cheeks. Her long eyelashes and button nose. She's perfect, I can't imagine anyone who would want to hurt her. 

"I'm gonna be honest because you deserve the honesty. I don't know what's gonna happen when we have this war. I don't know who all is gonna survive and who's not. But I do know for a fact that you and I are going to walk out of the ruins looking like total badasses with every man drooling over us." She smiles, "We're already hot." 

I scoff, "Hell yeah we are." I pause for a moment, "Remember what I told you after I woke up after my first overdose?" She smiles broadly, a little nervously but I can see that familier light in her smile. "Pretty...b-words never die." I laugh, "Yeah. Pretty bitches never die. And you are one of the prettiest girls both me and Carl have ever seen so believe me... you ain't dyin' any time soon. I will have to be killed for you to die because even if I have all of my limbs cut off, I will still find a way to save you." 

She smiles, "You too." I bring her in for a hug and squeeze her tightly. "Make sure Damien's bat doesn't get broken because I think he'll blow the whole prison up if it does." She giggles, "I'll make sure to keep it-" 

BOOM!

Without wasting a single second, at the first half-second of the sound of the explosion, I immediately break the hug and grab my machine gun. "Get ready." 

Daryl comes running out of his cell and down the steps. With a silent nod, we all run out of the prison and take cover behind walls and other structures. 

I run over to a watchtower and take cover behind a wall, peeking around the corner only to fire my gun.

Bullets, smoke, concrete, glass, everything falls to the ground, bounces off walls, fills the air. 

Alyssa takes the other watchtower. She coughs quietly at all of the smoke as she aims her machine gun at the cars down the hill and fires. 

The sound of the explosion was a watchtower being exploded as an entrance shot. "We gave you a chance!" The Governor screams from his car. "You didn't take it!" He says as he fires his gun. 

My whole body buzzes with adrenaline, fear, anger, every word other than happiness. My shoulder jerks back and forth quickly as my machine gun rapid fires throughout the yard of the prison. 

I can hear bullets flying past me, narrowly missing almost every inch of my body. 

Nobody other than Hershel, Beth, and Judith go into the prison, everyone stays out to fight. Hershel goes because he's only got one leg and can't fight very well, Beth goes to make sure Judith stays safe and knows that if things get too bad, she'll come out to help us. 

Concrete falls all around me as they explode the watchtower I'm using as my protection. I leap out of the way and roll on the ground, quickly standing up and continuing my gunfire. 

I scan the courtyard for Damien and the rest of the group. Damien and now Alyssa are behind the bleachers, Glenn and Maggie are behind Alyssa's original watchtower, I can't see the others, but I know they're there by the sound of the guns coming from our side of the yard.

The Governor parks his cars on the hill and continues firing, his people as well. There's easily over thirty of them, they've got us by a plethora. 

When my machine gun's ammo runs out, I curse quietly and toss the gun to the side, grabbing my pistol and using that instead.