'How much longer?' Ella asks.
'Oh, we're not nearly there yet', Cal answers.
'Do you need a break?' B asks her.
'I'm fine', Ella says cautiously. 'But Chris looks like she could use one.'
I've been lagging behind. Which isn't so surprising. Only yesterday, I almost died when Negan had me dragged onto that platform with him and today I spent the whole day working my ass off. I only got about an hour to lay my head down before Cal and B came to our room.
We made it out of the Sanctuary. As B predicted, Negan took most of his people with him. Cal was supposed to go too, but he managed to hide himself and in the chaos nobody noticed that he stayed behind. With most hallways deserted, we got out far easier than I had ever expected.
Unfortunately we do have to travel on foot. Because Negan took most vehicles with him and the ones that stayed behind were heavily guarded. It will take the entire night and then some to get to the Hilltop. But I can manage it. We just have to make sure we don't run into any guards in the area. Fortunately, Cal knows where they're posted.
'I'm fine', I say, taking a short moment to catch my breath. I'm not exactly fine, but honestly a short break isn't going to make much of a difference.
'Let's just keep going.'
'So what are things like at the Hilltop?' B asks curiously as we walk. 'Have you guys been there?'
'I have', Ella says excitedly. When a group went there to check the place out and talk to Gregory, she begged me to let her go with them. I wasn't happy about it, because I was already taking care of Ron at that point and I didn't want to leave him alone, so I couldn't with her. But she was so excited to see something new, I just couldn't say no to her.
'It was pretty cool', she goes on. 'The big house is really nice. The rest of it isn't as great as Alexandria, though. They live in trailers mostly. And Gregory is a bit of a douche.'
'Yah, I've heard that before', Cal says.
'But they do have these really nice gardens', Ella continues excitedly. 'Lots of fresh veggies and fruits and all that. It's really-'
'Stop', Cal hisses suddenly, putting his arm up fiercely. We all freeze in our movements and I look up sharply. I don't see anything, but Cal must have noticed something.
'What is it?' B asks in a whisper.
'Over there', Cal points. When I follow his finger, I can see the faintest flicker of light through the trees. And when I strain my ears, the muffled sound of voices as well.
'Are they ours?' B asks, sounding nervous.
'Our patrols aren't supposed to be here', he whispers back. 'But who knows. They could be from one of the communities as well. Or no-one we know at all.'
'Probably best to steer clear, right?' I ask. They might be able to help us out. But to find out, we'd have to get far too close for my liking.
Cal nods and indicates another direction for us to take.
'Keep your guards up', he tells us. 'And stay quiet. We can't be sure if there aren't more people wandering about.'
I glance over at Ella to see how she's doing. The fear is clear in her eyes, so I walk over and take her hand in mine. We both stay quiet, but she seems a little relieved when I take her hand and squeeze it.
My heart is in my throat as we make our way through the forest and leave the flickering lights behind us. After some time, I feel a little better, because we must have put some space between us and those mystery people. But just as I dare to breathe a little easier again, it happens.
Ella shrieks when a half-decomposed walker reaches up from the ground and grabs her ankle. B is upon her within seconds and takes the thing out with ease, but Ella's shriek has alerted more of the dead. We can hardly see them in the dark, but we can hear them all around us. We didn't dare to use our flashlights before, but we turn them on now and it takes all I've got not to scream when I see the faces of the dead all around us. We seem to have stumbled right into a group of them.
'Run!' Cal shouts while he jumps in front of the rest of us to take a few of them out. B jumps in too. They try to use their knives, but it soon becomes apparent that there are too many. They have no option but to shoot.
The sound seems to vibrate through the entire forest. If anyone's closeby, they're sure to have heard.
'We have to go!' I yell. Ella looks like she's is shock, so I grab her with my good arm and drag her with me. Cal and B follow us closely once they've taken care of some of the walkers.
'This way!' Cal shouts, taking the lead again.
'What's that sound?' B asks as she passes me as well. I look around for one quick moment to see, because I also noticed the strange rumbling sound. Through the dark trees, I can see light moving at a fast speed. Coming straight for us.
'Motorbikes', I yelp, hardly able to talk as I run my lungs out.
'Shit', Cal curses, still leading us through the trees. 'Turn your lights off.'
I don't want to turn my light off and walk straight into a walker's arms again. But if we keep them on, whoever's pursuing us will surely find us. So we do as he says and keep running.
I try to ignore the fact that the sounds of the motorbikes are coming closer and closer. And the fact that I keep losing my footing on the uneven forest ground. Whatever I do, I can not trip.
'Maybe we should hide?' B yells out as softly as possible. 'It'll be hard to find us in the dark.'
But it's too late. They're too close. A rough voice calls out to us.
'Stay where you are. Stop running now or we will harm you.'
'They're ours', Cal yells over his shoulder. 'Keep running.'
Maybe he recognized the voice. Maybe this is what they always tell people trying to get away from them. It doesn't matter. I keep running. My arm hurts like hell from the movement, but I try not to focus on it.
'Chris, I'm scared', Ella cries out between haggard breaths.
'It's gonna be okay', I manage to yell back. But we can't keep holding each other's hands. It impacts our running and we need to go as fast as possible. So I let her hand slip out of mine, but I don't want to let her out of my sight, so I make sure to run behind her.
A motorbike has caught up to us. It shoots past us, then comes to a halt right in front of us. Immediately, we change course and run through narrow paths, making sure they can't follow us on the bikes.
'Stop!' they yell out.
I can hear gunshots. But we keep running. They've gotten off their motorbikes, I can hear them running behind us. I look around for one second and look straight into the bright light of a flashlight.
'Shit, it's the doctor', someone calls out.
'Don't kill her. Negan won't like that.'
I turn my focus forward again. Fuck, I don't know him much longer I can keep running. But stopping is no option. Then, the ground slips away from me.
I scream when my foot lands on a loose rock and makes my leg spin up into the air. I don't just fall onto the ground. All of a sudden I'm sliding down some sort of slope. We must have been running right along it, but I didn't see it in the dark. I try to catch onto something, but I just keep sliding, unable to stop.
'Chris!'
I can hear Ella yell out, but I can't see her.
'Keep running!' I yell back. Finally I've managed to stop moving and I get on my feet again. But before I can take a single step, a large body throws itself on top of me and forces me back to the ground.
'Chris! Where are you?' I hear again.
'Keep running, Ella!' I yell out from under the crushing weight of my captor. He puts a hand on my head and pushes me further down into the ground, but I struggle and force my head up a little again.
'Cal, get her out of here!' I yell into the darkness.
'Go after them', the man holding me down orders. I can see another person's feet in front of me. There were two men right behind us and now they're both here. Maybe that will give the others a chance to get away.
But I can hear her again. Calling out for me.
'Chris! No! No, let me go!'
I hope she's screaming at Cal and not at one of the people coming after us. I try to fight back, but the large man on top of me has pushed me fiercely to the ground. Then he grabs both my arms and brings them to my back. My arm is still healing. So when he grabs it, it feels like he might as well have ripped it off and I scream out on pain.
'Shut up', he grunts, finally getting off of me when he's tied my hands together. He pushes me over, making me lie on my back and aims his flashlight right at me. I blink against the bright light and try to look away, but he grabs my jaw and holds my face in place.
'It really is you, isn't it', he says, sounding only half-interested. But then he laughs maliciously. 'When Negan gets back, you're gonna have some explaining to do.'