Future Ghosts • TWD

153. Rope.

"That stupid fuckin' asshole!" Rosie shouted angrily, immediately trying her hardest to get the hell out of that chair.

"Calm down! We can get each other out," Lydia tried to calm her, even though her own heartbeat was racing, too.

"I was s'posed to- I was tryin' to find the kids. Daryl told me to make sure they're okay," Rosie panted, trying to calm her breathing. Her throat felt like sandpaper.

"It's ok, Rosie. It's ok. Earl took them. I saw him," Lydia told her.

"Earl's an old fuckin' man!"

"We just need to leave before my mom gets to us. Calm down, please, and we can help each other get out," Lydia said, her voice shaky.

"He's not bringin' her to us! He's hidin' us. He's gonna kill 'er," Rosie said, using all of her strength to try and pull her hands out of the rope bindings. It was no use, though. Not unless she wanted to break her bones. "That stupid fuckin' asshole! God damnit!"

"Rosie, stop yelling!" Lydia said loudly. Rosie was pretty sure that she had never heard Lydia yell before. She was always so quiet. It was weird to hear her like that. "We're never gonna get out of here if you don't stop freaking out. And you're yelling is gonna draw walkers toward us and we won't be able to kill them without our hands or feet. So, please, Rosie, calm down and help me," Lydia said, much more calmly this time.

Rosie took a deep, shaky breath, closing her eyes and tilting her head back. "I'm sorry. I just- I'm supposed to be helpin' those kids and if somethin' happens to 'em because I'm not there... I don't know. Everythin' feels like it's my fault and the kids gettin' hurt would just..."

"None of this is your fault, Rosie. Just because you were there, doesn't mean it was your fault. You did all you could. You have to stop blaming yourself for this stuff," Lydia said. Rosie's eyes burned, so she kept them shut and focused on breathing. She didn't like being tied to a chair in the middle of nowhere. "Rosie?" Lydia asked, her eyebrows slightly raised.

Again, Rosie couldn't breathe. She couldn't breathe at all.

"Rosie? Are you ok?" Lydia asked her with a worried shakiness to her voice.

"In and out, hon. In and out," Maggie said, breathing in and out with her. Rosie's eyes opened again and she looked up at the ceiling, still trying to get her breathing to match Maggie's.

Yes, that was all Rosie had to do. She had to breathe in and out, in and out, in and out. It was ok. Earl had the kids. He would keep them safe. He was capable of that, right? In and out, in and out, in and out. They would get out of there and they would find Daryl and he would tell them that the kids were just fine and everything was ok. In and out, in and out, in and out.

"Rosie?"

"I'm ok. I'm ok," Rosie breathed out, opening her eyes once again.

"Yeah?" Lydia murmured.

"Yeah. Let's get the hell out of here," Rosie said. She let her eyes scan over the room. It was an old shed with worn-down planks and broken windows. Lydia was across the room from her. She needed to get to Lydia. "We can, like, scooch our chairs or somethin'," Rosie said, raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah. Let's try that," Lydia responded, nodding her head in agreement.

They both started to jerk their bodies in the chairs, ever so slightly pushing their chairs forward. The chairs moved about half an inch with each hard jerking motion. It was tiring and the ropes left burns on their skin, but they kept going, anyway. They also felt really stupid, thrashing around in those chairs in an attempt to get closer to each other. Rosie couldn't help but giggle as the two of them shoved themselves forward. She felt like a roly-polie lying on its back, trying to flip itself back up onto its feet.