"I knew you would last a while," Ben coughed as his head lay in my lap and I ran my hands through his hair. My eyes teared as I stared down at him, taking in every last detail of his appearance for what will be the last time. "You're resilient and smart, you've been the one who was keeping the family together, you know that right?" He looked up at me and a small smile crept onto my face. "You were built to handle the new world," he adjusted himself a bit and winced at the pain, the fever was already starting to kill him. "But fuck, I honestly thought I was gonna last longer than you... or at least longer than this," he laughed a bit which caused me to chuckle. He was always one to make a joke out of everything, no matter how bad the situation was. "Now I guess you won."
"I always win," I responded as I knew it would put a smile on his face. He laughed again before it turned into a cough where he was spitting up blood.
"I need you to do it now," he grabbed my hand and squeezed it, "I don't want to turn into one of them," he said which caused tears to uncontrollably stream down my face. But I nodded as I knew he was in a lot of pain. I couldn't let him turn into the very thing that killed him, he didn't want that. "Tell mom and dad I love them," he said as I pulled my gun out of its holder and cried harder. My hands shook as I held it, unable to keep it steady. I shifted so his head now lay flat on the concrete rooftop. Ben grabbed my hand that was wrapped around the gun and positioned it on his forehead. "You need to win, beat this," was the last thing he said before he nodded his head, okaying it. I pushed my finger down on the trigger, the sound of the gun shattering my eardrums and repetitively bouncing around in my head.
I just sat there and stared in complete and utter disbelief as the tears rushed out of me, creating a small pool beside his shoulder. I thought I might puke as my body doubled over, my hands landing on my knees as I bit my bottom lip to keep myself from screaming out. I dropped the gun as my hands shook, my fingernails digging into my jeans to try and steady the debilitating pain. Finally, I pulled the only blanket we had out of my bag and draped it over his body. I wanted to just sit there with him and cry, cry for hours on end until it didn't hurt anymore, but I couldn't. This world didn't grant you that, I had to keep going, I had to get the hell out of this city and back home.
Kissing him on the side of his head one last time, I wiped the tears from my eyes and snapped myself back into reality. Although it seemed like a pointless effort, my head still spun in circles. Searching through his knapsack I grabbed the medicine, water, and the only gun he had before I reached something nestled in at the bottom. Pulling it out I realized that it was his trademark black leather jacket, he has had this thing forever and wore it absolutely everywhere. Smiling to myself a little, I wrapped it around my waist, picked up my knapsack and headed for the ladder.
Looking over the edge of the roof and down the ladder made my stomach flip, but it was my best option as the alleyway below only had two or three creepers lurking around compared to the fifty around the corner. That sight alone made me want to curse out in agony. Why didn't we just take the time to check all of our options? That one decision cost Ben his life.
Carefully hopping over the edge I made my way down. Reaching the bottom, I landed on my feet quietly making sure not to alert the creepers that were to my left. Finding my footing I backed away slowly, keeping my eyes locked on them before I could slip around the corner. Just as I was nearing the end of the alley my heel stepped on the corpse of a dead creeper, causing me to fall flat on my back, drawing the dead's attention.
Panicking, I tried to get up fast as the creepers quickly approached their next meal. Once I was on my feet I sprinted around the corner to be met with a dead-end. I was trapped with nowhere to go but back.
Turning around I drew my weapon as the three creepers came at me. I swung at the first one, knocking its head clear off its shoulders. Its body crumpled as its teeth continued to smack against each other while the head rolled in circles on the ground. I had little time to prepare for the next one as I shoved my crowbar through the bottom of its jaw and pushed so far up through the skull that my bar got stuck. I couldn't get it out fast enough before the last creeper had me pinned against the wall. Fighting to keep it away from me, I could feel my limbs become weaker and weaker with every bite that was launched toward my face. Thinking with the next push it would get me for sure, an arrow shot straight through its forehead. My heart stopped as I stared up at the small metal spear that rested just between my eyes, nicking the tiniest of cuts in the center of my brows. The weight of the creeper lightened as its body sunk off of my chest, revealing a man standing there with his crossbow pointed at me. Almost in unison, three other men came rounding the corner to follow him.
"Drop yer' weapons," the dirty redneck said as he walked towards me, his crossbow still pointed at my face. He wore a beige shirt that he had ripped the sleeves off of, his naturally toned arms covered in sweat and dirt like my own.
"You could have killed me!" I shouted, my temper getting the better of me. "If the creeper's head had been any more rotted you would have killed me-"
"Drop yer' weapons," he snarled again, cutting me off as he took another step forward. I huffed out a rage-filled breath, reluctantly listening to his orders and slowly took my gun out and placed it on the floor. One of the other men walked over and kicked it to the side and forced my crowbar out of the creeper's head. He was dressed in a sheriff's uniform and had a large bag of guns thrown over his shoulder.
"Who are you?" The cop asked as he patted me down for any more weapons, taking my bag and rifle in the process. The other two men approached taking spots on either side of the guy with the crossbow, probably just as interested in finding out who the hell I was and more importantly if I was a threat.
"Scarlett Jensen," I held eye contact with the cop, "but you can call me Scar."
"What are you doing in the city by yourself?" He further questioned. "Do you have a camp? Are you alone?"
I narrowed my eyes at him, debating on whether I should tell him the truth or not. I decided against it. If they had a camp then I could try to get myself there, before making my way back home. I mean I didn't have many other options, they could be my escape route.
"No camp," I responded, "I came into the city with my brother because we heard the word of a refuge set up, but when we got here it was completely overrun-"
"Where's your brother now?" The younger boy asked, cutting me off. He looked to be around my age, possibly even younger.
I froze when he asked that, stuttering my words, "He didn't make it." Was all I could get out and each of them showed a flash of pity and understanding before quickly washing it away. "Do you have camp?" I finally asked and they all glanced at each other, most of them looking at the cop, almost as if they were trying to figure out how they should answer. As they brought their attention back to me I noticed a creeper shuffle around the corner. It was quiet and walked slowly, so I kept an eye on it, ready for when I had to kill it. "I'm a good shot, my father taught me as a kid, I never miss," I spoke up, pleading my case.
"Don't matter how good you are," the redneck snarled, which made my blood boil. Something about this guy pushed my buttons. It was the arrogance.
"I don't think I was talking to you," I snapped, "and from the looks of it, doesn't seem like you're the one in charge here."
"Aye missy, don't think you should be talkin' that way to a man that just saved yer' life," He fought back before the sound of the creeper approaching finally caught their attention. Each of their heads snapped behind them. It was coming up right behind the redneck, reaching for him. Reacting quicker than them I stepped towards the cop, pulling the knife out of his pocket before throwing it at the walker. The blade released from my fingers hurling just inches past the redneck's head and lodged its way directly in the centre of the creeper's forehead.
"Consider it even," I stated. They all stood there for a moment, processing what just happened.
"We have a camp," the cop finally responded, looking back towards me. "I'm Rick Grimes, this is Daryl," he nodded toward the archer who finally dropped his weapon, no longer seeing me as a threat, "that's Glenn and T-Dog," he then looked at the younger boy and the burly man. I nodded back at them. "You can come back with us, but you abide by our rules and you contribute what you can."
They seemed awfully trustworthy of someone they didn't know. I mean I'm a petite person who looked like someone that couldn't do any harm, but in the new world everyone was considered a threat now, I guess they just hadn't realized that yet. That sometimes, you were to be more scared of the living than the walking dead. For that reason, my guard remained up. But at the moment I was in no place to be questioning them, so I went along.
"Thank you," I smiled at Rick to show some gratitude. "Now can I get my weapons back?" I asked, which they reluctantly handed over.
"We should really be getting out of here guys," Glenn said, in a state of well deserved panic as we could hear the creeper's groans beginning to echo louder through the alleyway.
"How do you suggest we do that? My brother and I had been trying to get out of here for the last couple of days," I asked.
"You underestimate me," Glenn smiled which made me furrow my eyebrows slightly, but I continued to listen as he explained his plan. The kid was smart. He had thought through every possible situation that could happen and how to avoid them. Once he made sure we all knew where to go, we set out on our way, trying to get to the truck they said they parked just outside the city.
Following Glenn through the back alleyways which was how they got into town, there were only a few creepers here and there that between the five of us we were able to either avoid or takedown. After about a half-hour we finally made it to the outskirts of the city, jogging along a fence to where they said the truck would be.
"Oh my God," Glenn said as they collectively stopped dead in their tracks.
"Where the hell's our van?" Daryl spat out.
"What?" I questioned. "Who would have taken it?"
"Merle," Rick said, his tone holding a fair amount of disgust.
By the look on my face, they could tell I was confused by what they were talking about so Daryl spoke up. "Merle's ma brother," he punched the fence angrily, "We came into town to find him and them damn guns," he motioned toward the bag Rick was holding.
"We better get a move on," Rick cut in, "It'll be dark soon and we need to get back to camp." With that said we began walking and I took this as an opportunity to figure out what and who these guys actually were, or at least the best I could.
"So what'd you do before all this?" I jogged up beside Glenn, stepping in sync with him.
"Delivered pizzas," he smiled before furrowing his brows, "Why do people keep asking me that?"
"You're just clever," I paused, "quick on your feet I guess, wouldn't have figured that you'd be a delivery boy," I chuckled a bit.
"What about you?" He asked. "Were you in the army or something?" He nodded towards the dog tags I had hanging around my neck.
"Oh no, these are my fathers and brothers," I smiled as I held the chain around my neck, looking at them. Just then Glenn grabbed at them, pulling them as close to him as possible before reading the names.
"Lincoln and Royce?" He questioned as he read off my brothers.
"My dad had a thing for cars," I laughed, "Lincoln, Royce and Bentley. My mother named me though, she really wanted a girl."
He nodded his head chuckling a bit, "So what did you do before all this?" He asked again.
"I didn't do much, just a farm girl who worked at the town's shooting range during the summers I was home from school," I answered.
"Explains the impeccable aim," he nudged my shoulder and I laughed. I liked Glenn he was easy to talk to and certain things that he did remind me of Ben.
Realizing the other guys were listening to us I tried to include them. "How 'bout you?" I asked as I nodded towards Daryl who only walked a few steps ahead of us, to my right. He turned his head slightly, side-eyeing me before ignoring me.
"Why we takin' in stays again?" Daryl looked at Rick.
"Be nice," Rick responded. "Besides you look more like the stray than her," Rick made a joke which caused Glenn to choke on the water he was drinking and for me to smile in satisfaction.
"Don't worry, he doesn't share much with anyone," Glenn reassured me, which actually caused me to become more intrigued by him.
The conversation went quiet after that, as exhaustion began to set in. It's been almost two days since I've had any sleep and only a little water along with a granola bar earlier today. At this point, I was running off of adrenaline and the thought of food and a makeshift bed that hopefully awaited me at this camp. We walked and walked as their camp was a bit away from the city, up in the mountains.
It was beginning to get dark as we walked up the dirt road, and they confirmed that the camp was resting just at the top of the hill. From where we were I could see the faint glow of a fire in the distance, which caused a smile to creep up my face as I would be able to rest easy tonight, somewhere safe.
"Oh man, I can't wait to sleep," T-Dog exclaimed which cause everyone to smile and a few chuckles to come out of Rick. Although our happiness was short-lived as the sound of bloodcurdling screams came from the direction of the camp.
"Oh my God," Rick exhaled.
"Go! Go!" Glenn yelled pushing us all into a sprint toward the camp. The screams got louder as we approached, followed by a couple of gunshots going off.
Upon reaching the camp I was met with men, women and children scattering around, running and trying to fight off the herd of creepers that swarmed the grounds. Rick immediately took out the guns and tossed them to the men. I was in shock as I looked around at all the people who had already been killed. A woman then went running past me, screaming bloody murder before immediately being attacked by a creeper, which finally got me to snap back into myself and shove my crowbar into the creeper's head.
Looking around, I analyzed the camp to look for a high advantage point. Laying eyes on the RV to my left I sprinted towards it, climbing up the ladder as fast as possible. Throwing my backpack down I pulled out my AR-15 sniper rifle and set it up before beginning to take down the creepers one after another.
A girl lay in front of the RV screaming as her arm and neck had been bit. What I assumed to be her sister cried over her as a creeper approached. That was the first one I took out, preventing it from getting any closer to them. A few more stumbled around the centre of the camp, and with Rick taking out one of them, I shot down the other four. Looking through my lens I came across a creeper that had Daryl pinned up against a tree on the other side of camp. Aligning up the lens with the side of the creeper's head, I fired, sending it to the ground within seconds. Jumping a little, Daryl looked over at me before nodding as thanks and went on to kill the next creeper. One after another I took down the creepers that swarmed the area until there was nothing left. Shooting down the last one, I took a breath not realizing that I had been holding it for so long.
Rick screamed the name Carl before a little kid ran into his arms. He scooped up the boy as a thin brunette woman joined them in the hug. People heaved in staggered breaths as tears pricked their eyes, looking around at all the people they just lost.
"Who killed all the walkers?" A floppy brunette-haired man spun around eyeing all the creepers that had gunshots straight through the middle of their heads.
Climbing down from the top of the RV I approached the group who all held their remaining loved ones in their arms. "That was me," I spoke up, causing them to all turn and look at where the unfamiliar voice came from. "You call them walkers?"