AFTER EVERYTHING, NOT EVEN a month of living in whatever world had taken the place of the one Mya had remembered and, quite frankly, missed could get her used to the sight of hundreds - probably thousands - of walking piles of flesh stumbling around the streets of Atlanta. They had all been people with lives, families, jobs - just like her. But now? It didn't even matter because they were all dead, knowing nothing but the urge for human flesh.
"My God, it's like Times Square down there." Andrea mumbled in horror, breaking the silence between her, Mya and Jacqui. The three women all rested against the ledge of the roof, watching in horrified awe as the geeks groaned, shuffling to find their next victims.
Somehow, Andrea's description of the scene made sense and Mya furrowed her brows, nodding in agreement. She hesitated as an even worse thought sprung to mind, "Then imagine what this must be like in Times Square." She added on, causing both Jacqui and Andrea's eyes to widen in sickening realisation.
Andrea lowered her voice as she softly spoke, the tone of the conversation becoming darker than all three of them even expected. "What's happened to the world?"
"How's that signal?" Morales broke the silence as he turned to T-Dog, moving away from Officer Friendly - as he'd called himself - to contemplate whether there was any chance of the group being able to find them. Mya honestly doubted any chance of them getting off of the roof alive but back at camp, her twelve year old sister was waiting for her. She couldn't give in, she refused to give in. She had to fight for Sophia.
T-Dog was still in some pain, from what Mya could tell, as he rested, leant against the ledge, tryin to get into contact with the rest of the group that awaited their return, "Like Dixon's brain. Weak." He remarked, earning Merle raising his middle finger in his direction.
Gritting his teeth, Morales nodded, "Keep trying." He urged.
Mya had already figured Andrea had lost a lot of hope of getting back to camp, from her pointing a gun at Rick and claiming he had killed them to the words that now escape her mouth, "Why? There's nothing they can do, not a damn thing." She pointed out glumly.
There was no denying the amount of truth in Andrea's words, Mya knew that. "Well, I, for one, wanna at least say my goodbyes to my mom and Sophia before I go." She admitted, thinking back to potentially the only two family members she had left that actually cared for her. She paused hesitantly, her words made her seem like she was giving in too, there was no way she would. "But we can't just give up either."
Officer Friendly was visibly perplexed, crinkling his eyebrows to signal his confusion and gaining the attention of Morales. "Got some people outside the city is all. There's no refugee centre, that's a pipe dream." The man explained.
"Then she's right, we're on our own." Officer Friendly agreed, causing Mya to believe he was giving up too before he continued to speak, "It's up to us to find a way out."
Mya's lips curved upwards into a relieved smile, "That's something I can get behind." She commented, digging her hands into her jean pockets as she approached the officer. At least she wasn't the only one determined to survive.
"Good luck with that. These streets ain't safe in this part of town from what I hear." Merle grumbled from where he was handcuffed, seemingly wanting to do everything he could to continue to irritate the group.
Frowning, Mya tapped Officer Friendly's arm gently, leaning in to speak in a lower tone to him, "Don't let Dixon bother you, he's a junkie taking out his withdrawal symptoms on everyone else." She told him reassuringly, casting a quick, annoyed glance towards Merle, who appeared to be listening in. "We'll find a plan and it'll work."
Officer Friendly nodded, "That's what I'm counting on." He answered.
Mya moved away to hear the end of Merle harassing Andrea, who seemed to hardly give him the time of day as he failed to flirt his way out of his predicament, "... Gonna die anyway." Mya was able to listen to the end of, continuing to frown at his actions.
"I'd rather." Andrea shot back, causing Mya to smirk slightly, walking away and leaving Merle to mumble quite insults about her to himself.
Trying to ignore Merle, Mya returned her attention back to Officer Friendly and Morales as they discussed ideas on how to find a way back to camp, "The streets ain't safe." Officer Friendly stated as though everyone else was unaware.
Morales scoffed, "Now there's an understatement."
Pausing, Officer Friendly appeared lost in thought before he glanced back towards Morales and Mya, "What about under the streets? The sewers?" He suggested.
"Oh man, hey, Glenn. Check the alley. You see any manhole covers?" Morales requested, turning to the younger man, and definitely the best person for the job at hand, for help. Glenn was quick to speed across the roof, scanning the nearest alley for any signs of manhole covers the group could escape under.
Glenn eventually returned, filled with disappointment, "No, must be all out on the street where the geeks are." He responded, shrugging as though he was attempting to stay positive throughout everything.
"Maybe not, old buildings like this, built in the 20s. Big structures often had drainage tunnels into the sewers, in case of flooding. Down in the sub-basements." Jacqui suddenly spoke up, seeming somewhat nervous by all the attention that had now fallen upon her. Mya's lips once again twisted into a relieved smile.
Raising an eyebrow, Glenn cleared his throat, "How do you know that?"
Mya nudged Glenn gently, "Does it matter? That's our ticket out of here." She reminded him, feeling more at ease with the situation they were in. They had a chance.
( . . . )
THE SMELL OF THE drainage tunnels was something Mya would've preferred to forget. She gripped her flashlight as the sickening smell continued to linger. Wrinkling her nose, she followed behind Glenn, who was leading the group to what he figured were the drainage tunnels. At this point, Mya had no doubts.
"This is it? You sure?" Morales asked, as though the smell hadn't given it away, twisting his wrist to angle his flashlight downwards and into the tunnel.
Glenn nodded, "I really scoped this place out the other times I was here." He explained, resting one hand on the bars that wrapped around the tunnel, only stopping at the space where the ladder resided, "It's the only thing in the building that goes down.. But I've never gone down it."
The whole group turned to Glenn, including Officer Friendly. All of them aware of the fact that Glenn was the only person capable of going down there and getting back out, "Hope you aren't afraid of heights." Mya offered as Glenn realised that all eyes were on him.
"Oh.. Great." Glenn mumbled, sighing.
Andrea leaned over to Glenn, gesturing to the tunnel, "We'll be right behind you." She added on, seeming to show the most sympathy out of everyone awaiting Glenn's departure down the tunnel that lead to God knows where.
Glenn shook his head almost instantly, "No, you won't. Not you." He shot back.
"Why not me? Think I can't?" Andrea retorted, taking offense while Glenn stumbled over his words hurriedly. Clearly, he hadn't meant for Andrea to take his comment in the way she had.
Mya was quick to pick up on Glenn's slight panic, he probably wasn't that good in confrontations, she imagined. "Now's not the time to start picking fights, Andrea." Mya stated, coming to Glenn's rescue.
Officer Friendly glanced towards Glenn, "Speak your mind." He told him with reassurance that almost made Mya feel better about herself too, even if the words weren't directed to her.
"Look, until now, I always came here by myself. In and out, grab a few things, no problem. First time I bring a group, everything goes to Hell. No offense." Glenn began, appearing to let out a lot of frustration that had probably been within him for the past few hours. "If you want me to go down this gnarly hole, fine. But only if we do things my way."
In unison, the group nodded. It was a fair request, they had all joined Glenn on something he preferred to do alone and they had almost gotten him killed in the process. The least they could do was let him take lead on finding a way out.
"If I run into something and have to get out quick, I don't want you all jammed up behind me, getting me killed. I'll take one person." Glenn stopped Officer Friendly as he attempted to move, seeming to grow more confident in himself, "Not you either. You've got Merle's gun and I've seen you shoot, I'd feel better if you were out in that store, watching those doors, covering our asses." Glenn then went on to turn his focus to Andrea, "And you've got the only other gun so you should go with him."
Seeing Glenn adjust to taking lead so quickly was admirable in Mya's eyes, he was by far more capable than anyone else in the group, she believed. "You be my wingman" Glenn gestured to Morales before turning to the two remaining members of the group, "Jacqui and Mya stay here, something happens, you two yell down to us, get us back up here in a hurry."
Officer Friendly nodded, "Okay." He stated as he patted Glenn's shoulder before preparing to head to the front of the store, "Everybody knows their jobs."
Glenn stepped over to the ladder, taking one step down it. Mya noticed the slight hesitance in his step, perhaps he was realising just what he was getting himself into. It was enough to make Mya wonder whether someone else should've gone down instead.
"Hey, Glenn." Mya blurted out before she could even inwardly scold herself for distracting him from what he was doing. "Don't die, okay?"
He seemed appreciative of her words, or at least Mya hoped he was as he gripped the ladder tighter, "I didn't plan on it." He stated dryly, shooting her a small smile as though he was trying to cover up how terrified he was. And he most likely was.
Most people were terrified nowadays, even Mya herself.