I gaze around the room, my knees pulled up to my chest as I sit on the bed next to Daryl. I see him open his eyes, looking at me as he sits up. He nods, sitting up. We were here all night without anyone coming in. I sigh, standing up as I head towards the curtains, my head spinning from drowsiness. I'm unable to sleep, knowing any moment could be made our last.
I open up the dark colored fabric, watching the small spots of light shine through the the separate pieces of wood. The glass I found is too weak to pry the wood off, so I continue to search the room. There has to be something. Daryl's eyes rest on me as I look for something. He too stands up, searching the room. We both want to make it out of here as soon as we can, but that's not going to happen until we find something to open the window with.
"There's nothing here!," I whisper, letting out a frustrated sigh. "Face it Daryl, even if we do kill the Governor, his group of pets are going to kill us right away.," I say, looking down at the floor. It's true. Once we kill someone, the others are going to panic and kill us.
"If we can get guns, we can make it outta here alive.," he says, still wandering around the room. I hear him sigh as he walks up to the window. "Maybe I can open the window.," he says as he slips his fingers on the bottom plank, pulling as hard as he can. Whoever built this made sure it was strong enough to hold a man. Worry begins to feel my face as I watch him pull at the wood. He's not going to give up; he's going to hurt himself even more.
"Here, let me help.," I say as I walk over to him. He nods, letting go. The nails are screwed in deep. I slip my fingers on the bottom left side, and he puts his on the bottom right. We look at each other and nod. We both begin to pull the plank, using as much strength as we can while still keeping quiet. I smirk as I begin to hear the wood slipping. The wood is around two or three inches, so I assume the nails must be extremely long.
"Shh.," Daryl says, stopping. He takes my hands off the wood as he looks at the door. We hear several footsteps stomping up the stairs quickly. Backing away from the window, we go sit on the bed, looking as if we never left it. I pull my knees up to my chest, and Daryl keeps his right leg out but pulls his left leg up, resting his left arm on his knee. I've noticed he seems to sit like that a lot.
The door bursts open, and the Governor walks in with two guards to his sides, each holding rifles. I gulp as they come in closer. Daryl and I keep quiet, our eyes glaring at the three men. Only if we can get those two guns! I keep my eyes on the men holding the rifles. Only if the Governor was gone, Daryl and I could take the chances and steal those guns. I look over at Daryl who seems to have the same idea.
"Here's the deal: you give me answers, and I'll let you go.," the Governor says, walking closer to the bed set. His frown makes him appear even more crazy than he already is. Daryl and I stare at him, watching every move he makes.
"No.," I finally speak up, my voice confident. I'm not going to give up our information to someone who's going to let us go just to kill us later. He wants to know how many people we have. How many people he has to kill. He wants war.
"You sure about that? You could always warn your people and give up the prison to us.," he says, in a stuck up tone. No. We can't allow it.
"And go where? What about baby Judith!? Don't you care that we have children there? Are you that heartless? Think about what Penny would think. She wouldn't like having you going around and killing little children!," I rant, throwing many words at him in hope to convince him to let us go. If he has any sanity or love left, he'd let us go. But he just stands there, thinking about it for a minute. I begin to wonder what he is thinking.
"It would keep Penny alive.," he says, turning around and walking away. His guards give each other a look which is hard to identify, but they too follow him. Once they close the door and walk away, Daryl and I glance at each other, standing up and returning to the window.
"We have to get out of here!," I whisper, fear building up in my throat. He nods, compassion in his eyes. I can tell he wants to make it out of here as much as I do. Anyone would. The Governor has completely lost it. We grab the plank, pulling as hard as we can. Hope begins to fill my heart as I see it loosen. I groan, using as much strength as possible as I pull. A few minutes later, the plank pops out, causing me to launch backwards.
I take a few steps back, barely catching my balance. I smile, looking at Daryl as he holds the plank. He chuckles at my clumsyness, but I just grab onto the next plank up, ignoring his witty remark. There are five left. We continue to pull off the planks, using all of the strength we can spare. I haven't eaten in a while, so my strength isn't up; however, I refuse to give up.
"Only a few more.," I say, holding up another plank we pulled out. "We have to make it look like we didn't touch it if they come back.," I say, looking at the light shinning through the window. He nods, grabbing the next one. We manage to pull off two more planks, so now there's only one left.
"I hear something.," Daryl says, turning around. I nod, placing all the planks loosely in the wall. Daryl covers it with the blinds as we quickly head to the bed. I feel like a little kid again--sneaking up late at night and running back to your bed when your parents come through the door. It brings back memories. I sigh, sitting on the bed. The footsteps we hear grow louder, but they pass our door. We sit there for a minute, waiting. Once the noises are gone, we return to the window.
"One more.," Daryl says, focusing his eyes on the plank. We pull out the loose ones quickly, placing them on the floor. We are going to need them as a weapon when we get out of here. Once we manage to pull the last plank off, I open the window. I watch as Daryl pops the screen, looking down. The light causes his pupils to shrink as he pokes his head outside. I too look out, my heart racing with fear as I see the drop.
"Crap. We never thought about this...," I say, my voice quiet and full of defeat. How are we going to get out of here without killing ourselves? I sigh, running my hands through my hair as I walk back in the room, pacing back in forth.
"What are we going to do?," I ask, my voice drowning in horror as I look up at Daryl.
"We jump.," he says, a serious look on his face. What!? He can't possibly be serious? We wont make the fall without breaking a bone or something! I sigh, glancing at the wall the back to Daryl.
"What!? We won't make it!," I whisper. He sighs, looking away from me.
"We have to. It's either get killed by the Governor, or taking a risk. We might make it. Look, there are bushes down there; they can break our fall.," He says, hoping to convince me to jump with him. I sigh, shaking my head. Is it worth the shot? If we injure ourselves, we won't be able to make it out without someone finding and killing us.
"Fine. I'd rather die trying.," I say as I walk up to him. He places his hand on my shoulder comfortingly, his blue eyes shinning in the sunlight. Concern fills my face, my hazel eyes glistening with tears.
"I'll go first. Toss me two planks once I'm down. I'll help break your fall.," he instructs, his voice sounding confident in his southern accent. I nod, watching him as he begins to climb out the window. He checks the area, jumping down once he sees it's clear. I watch in horror as he falls down. Other than the bushes, the ground is made of concrete. He hits the bushes, grunting once he lands.
Relief runs through me as I see him stand up. He stretches his back as he stands up, looking at me. I nod, smiling as I see him stand up with no issues. This house is tall, so the drop is even more scary. I toss down two planks with long nails hammered in, making sure they land in the bushes and far enough away from Daryl. He takes them, moving them to the side. He then stretches out his arms, placing them over the bushes to help break my fall.
"Come on.," he urges, looking up at me. I sigh as I climb through the window, my eyes widening as I hear footsteps. I quickly drop, not waiting for anyone to walk in the room. I close my eyes, praying I won't end up hurting myself. I land in Daryl's arms as they sink down into the bushes. He lifts me up, helping me up to my feet.
"Thanks. Come on, we have to go; I heard someone.," I say, quickly grabbing the planks. I hand one to Daryl, and open up the side gate of the house. We silently stick to the side of the next door houses as we go, undetected by the people guarding the house. We run, not saying a word. Where are we? Once we reach the end of the neighborhood, we turn on the main street, refusing to stop running.
"Damnit!," I yell as I see a truck drive by. We turn around, running the opposite way back into the neighborhood. People quickly jump out of the truck, their guns in their arms.
"Hey you two! Stop running!," one man screams, his deep voice carrying through the air. Daryl looks back, seeing something familiar. His crossbow. He stops, grabbing my arm.
"Let me talk.," he says, looking at me, still holding his plank. "You fellas happen to know where the closest highway is?," he asks, pretending to be someone else. Maybe they didn't see us.
"Yeah um, you follow that road, and it'll lead ya out, but if you come with us, we can give you some supplies to help you.," the boy with Daryl's crossbow says, pointing his hand to the opposite way we were originally heading to.
"Hey, wait a second. Weren't you that guy who the Governor kidnapped?," asks the older man as Daryl walks closer. Not saying a word, Daryl takes the gun from the man, not hesitating to shoot. He shoots him in the leg, causing him to fall to his knees. He then aims at the boy who puts down the crossbow. He bends down, taking it. I watch, impressed as Daryl manages to retrieve his weapon.
"That would be mine.," he says while he takes it. "Nicole, you get in the truck.," he instructs, keeping his eye on the two using his beloved weapon. He tosses me the rifle as I head for the truck. He then follows me, heading for the driver's seat. I take shotgun as he closes his door. Once we are both in, he begins to drive.
One of his hands is on the wheel, while the other lays on the armrest of the truck. I watch as he smirks, heading the way the the boy told us where the highway is.
"Thanks.," I say, breaking the awkward silence. We finally made it out because of him. I owe him everything right now.
"Don't mention it.," he says with his southern accent as he keeps his eyes on the road. Once we reach the highway, Daryl seems to know where we are. He frowns, looking at the bunched up cars spread out in the road. He sighs, stopping the truck.
"This truck ain't gonna fit.," he says, hopping out of the truck. I too hop out, following him to keep watch. He opens of the car door, taking his crossbow out to shoot the walker stuck inside. Obviously the Governor didn't take this way yet. He pulls out the rotting corpse, retrieving his arrow. He then bends down under the seat, hot wiring the car. Once the engine starts, he drives it out of the way.
"Lets go.," he says as he gets out of the car and walking towards the truck. I nod and follow, taking back my seat. We start driving again, maneuvering through the cars stuck on the highway. A few hours later, the sun begins to set.
"How much longer until we get back to the prison?," I ask, my stomach growling. I need food.
"Might take a few hours. Looks like there are more cars we have to move.," he says, letting out a sigh. I nod, looking over at Daryl. He seems exhausted.
"Why don't we stop for the night?," I suggest, not wanting him to push himself too hard again.
"No, we need to get back. This thing is gonna be out soon so we need to get as far as possible.," he says, countering my offer. I sigh, going along with his stubbornness. Hours of driving and clearing out the highway pass, and we begin to reach even more familiar ground. The town. He pulls into the parking lot, sticking his tongue out in focus as he parks the car.
The lights begin to blink in the truck, letting us know we need gas. I sigh, looking up at Daryl. What are we going to do now?
"Come on.," he says, stepping out of the car. I sit there, stretching. Daryl comes around, opening my door. "My bike's still here.," he says, flicking his head to tell me to get out of the car. I smirk, stepping out.
"I'm guessing none of our group or the Governor's could ride a bike.," I say, laughing as I think about Austin. I can keep my promise after all. We head over to the bike, and Daryl turns it on, looking around. We hear moans in the distance, so I quickly step on the bike, holding onto him as he begins to ride. I smile as I realize we're going to return to everyone. Austin, Sawyer, Carol, everyone.
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School....:C Sorry it's taking longer than usual. But I hope you like this chapter! I'm not so sure about it haha but here ya go! Let me know what you think! Vote/comment! <3