Don't Let Go (The Walking Dead)

14- Risk Taking

Chapter 14

(A/N I would just like to let you all know that, from this point on, I will be introducing a bit of 'indecent' language. This means is swearing. If you are uncomfortable with that, feel free to stop reading. Thanks :) On another note, I should let you all know where we're at. At this point in the story, Ricks group has just taken over the prison. They haven't found Woodbury and baby Judith has not yet arrived. The next chapter or two will most likely be extremely fast paced. According to the Walking Dead timeline, this is somewhere between approximately 300-320 days into the apocalypse. Almost a year. Well, happy reading!)

I had a hard time believing my own eyes. There, less than a mile away from me, was a decent sized group of people. There must have been at least 10 of them. This was it. It was the time for me to make a decision but, I couldn't just make it on a whim. I would need to plan this out. For all I know, these people could be cannibals or some shit like that. Just don't mess up. This is your life we're talking about here. Damnit , I won't! Just stop telling me these things! I don't care! I'm trying to protect you! Well, you aren't doing a very good job of it. Anyways, right. A plan. It wasn't long before I thought back to that list I made all those months ago. The first step to making a plan is having steps, right? I took a little notepad and pen out of my bag and began writing.
Eliza's Plan for Joining a Group
----------------------------------------------
1- Make sure they won't kill you.
2- Make sure they won't hurt you.
3- Make sure they haven't murdered
people in cold blood. Cause, you know...
That kinda ties in with hurting you...
4- Make sure they will at least be mildly
civil.
5-Decide how you feel about them.
6- If you get in, make a decision.
Are you staying, or not?

There. That felt good. I like having stuff planned out, logical, and making perfect sense. (A/N Also known as me IRL). So. My first step was to make sure they wouldn't kill me and how could I do that without them seeing me or getting close to me? Wait. That's it! The walkie talkies! I almost yelled in excitement when I remembered the walkie talkies I had picked up at the gas station. They even had batteries in them! I just needed to get one inside. Then, I could talk to them and see how I felt. Now how would I do that? From what I could tell, after observing them for several hours, they only entered the prison through one way. There was a gate out front, heavily guarded and locked. They would pass through that, go up the road/path thing or whatever, and then pass another gate, and finally enter through a door into the prison. I searched the rest of the building but from what I could tell, that was the only area they used. They had easily secured all other entries and/or exits.

This place was honestly amazing. They must have been incredibly lucky to find it. I mean, I guess I must have been incredibly lucky too. For once, I'm getting a break. I'm losing focus, though. Getting the walkie talkies in. I mean, I could just hide, throw it over, and hope it gets inside but that's a risky business. It was really the only plan that I could come up with, though. What other choice did I have? It was that or approach them face-to-face and there was no chance I would be doing that. That was even more dangerous. I guess I would just have to take the chance and do it. When they switched guards in a few minutes, I would run over and hide behind one of the trees closer to the gate. As soon as someone's back was turned, I would throw the walkie-talkie over the fence and run far enough away that they wouldn't be able to find me. If they came looking, I would hide in the small cave I had found, hidden underneath a massive tree. It was, to be completely honest, one of the best plans I had ever made. To my twelve-year-old brain, it was foolproof. I could carry out more than half my list just through the walkie talkie. From the short time I had observed them, they seemed like a reasonable, sensible, bunch of people. There was no way my plan would fail. I mean, unless they didn't let me in. But what kind of people wouldn't let a twelve-year-old kid into their group? Murderers. That's who. If they wouldn't let me stay, then I would easily know what kind of people they were. It wasn't long before I put my plan into motion. I was already in position, hiding behind the largest tree I could find that was still within throwing distance of the gate. I had a damn good throwing arm anyways, playing softball and all. The woman guarding the gate was pretty. She almost looked familiar, for whatever reason. Short, brown hair framed her face and as she turned to climb down from her post, I heard her talking to someone.
"I'm gonna go find Glenn." She had said. She had a pretty southern accent (again, strangely familiar) and it made me want to get to know her. If I got in, maybe I'd try and talk to her. When her back was turned, I went for it. The walkie talkie sailed over the fence and I winced when it almost struck her. Then I ran. I was out of sight before she had even turned to see where it came from. They couldn't see me but I could see them perfectly. I was actually still close enough to hear little bits of what they were saying.
"What on earth...?"
"You should take it to Rick! It could be dangerous."
"You're right. What if someone is on the other end? I mean, it was tossed over for a reason."
And with that, she turned and ran towards the prison, leaving the grey haired woman at the guard post. I could only hope now that it would make it to whoever their leader was so I could talk to them.

<<About an hour later>>

"SHIT!" I yelled, tumbling out of my tree. The voice that had come through the radio startled me in my half-asleep state and I fell. The branches scratched my arms as the ground approached and I vaguely remembered that time with the men in the woods. The ground my body had landed on was not soft by any means, most likely spraining my wrist in the process. I sat there for a moment, waiting for the pain to pass and cradling my injured hand. It was then that I realized something. Oh, my god. Someone just spoke through the walkie talkie! They spoke to me! What did they even say?!? I Instantly jumped up and, not forgetting my pain, gently picked up the radio. I heard the voice again, rough and southern, not quite as gentle as the young woman's.
"Hello? Is anyone there? Hello?" The man's voice sounded tired and the message was simple. I pushed the button on the side down and spoke.
"Hello? Who are you?" I tried to make my voice sound strong but that was difficult to do when you were cold, tired, and in pain. It came out almost as a whisper and I hated how weak I sounded.
The man's voice clearly relaxed a bit when he realized I wasn't an adult.
"Who am I? I think we should be asking you that. My name is Rick Grimes."
"Eliza. Eliza Connors."
"Okay, Eliza. Why did you give us this walkie talkie?" Now came the questions. I decided to answer honestly.
"Well, to be completely honest, I don't trust you. I've never met you and I wanted to talk." I had already started so no use stopping now. "I have something to ask... I would like to join your group." The radio went silent and, for a moment, I thought they had left. I realized that they were probably just talking, though. I wasn't afraid to admit I was nervous. The longer the silence, the stronger the doubt grew. What if they don't let me in? What if they come after me? What if they try to trick me? Even though I was scared, this was one of the kinds of risks I would have to take from now on. I was startled again when the radio crackled to back to life.
"Can you come out? You sound smart and we're assuming you can still see the prison."
"You're right, I can see you. Whether I'm coming out or not is a tricky matter. What do you want?" This was terrifying.
"Well, we have to see you before we can trust you. Make sure you're alone and not dangerous."
"I understand that. If I'm right, you're armed and I would feel a lot better if you would maybe send out two or three people instead of all of you. I will leave my weapons hidden in the forest until you trust me enough to retrieve them." I was really putting myself out here right now. I could be killed any moment. The walkie was picked up again.

"Alright. Let's do it."

This was it. Today, in this moment, I would either live or I would die an idiot. Either way, this plan is incredibly stupid. I had already left all of my weapons except one of my knives in the cave under the tree. I would give that to them when I decided it was safe. I still needed to protect myself. At the moment, I was sat perched in another tree, waiting for whoever came out to look for me. Ten more minutes passed until finally, I saw the door to the building open. I would assume the people emerging would have some form of authority here. The first one to come out was a tall man. He was wearing a light shirt and jeans I could tell he was a cop or something just from the way he walked. His beard was long and messy but he still looked strong, confident. The gun on his hip would be something to watch out for. The second man looked similar. His hair was dark and tangled and a huge crossbow sat over his shoulder. Man, would I love to shoot that. Maybe he would let me one day. Finally, the woman with the brown hair followed them. I was glad she was there. She made me feel safe but.. maybe that was the point? For them to make me feel safe and then attack? I guess I wouldn't know if I didn't do something. As they approached the gates, I jumped down from the tree and stepped forward.

"Any of you people Rick?"

CLIFFHANGER TIME! HAHAHAHA! Here you guys go, another long-ish chapter. Well.. 5.2 pages so yeah. Long for me at least. I'm so sorry to end this chapter like this but honestly, I have to go and I don't have time to write out their meeting. See ya next time, though! (Sorry for any typos. I suck at spell-checking.) Also, how do you feel about the new cover photo?

Will Eliza be allowed into the prison? How will she feel about everyone? How will they feel about her? To get a notification when I update, leave a favourite! I also a appreciate feedback so much and comments are greatly encouraged! Keep reading! :)

-Emma xoxo