Ellie's POV
After Merle's hissy fit, Officer Friendly made him calm down. Thank god for it too, thanks to my injuries I couldn't even pull him off of T. When I tried, his elbow flew backward, and in my injured state I hadn't noticed it coming and he knocked me back, successfully busting n' bruising my lip.
Officer Friendly cuffed him to one of the pipes along the roof, and he was currently sending T-dog the glare of the century. He had yet to look at me or even acknowledge the fact that he hit me. Although it was an accident, it still hurt that he didn't stop when I called. It was so obvious that I was behind him, the least he could've done was check on me after he knocked me to the floor. This wasn't the first time I'd taken a hit from a Dixon man, but I never thought it'd happen again after he died. If Daryl were here he'd be livid, but he wasn't, and I was forced to deal with Merle.
The others left to see if there was a way to leave this hellhole through the sewers, leaving me, Merle, and T-dog. T's job was to try and contact the others to let them know of the pickle we were in, while I was to play peacekeeper, as usual.
I played with my angel wing, basking in the silence. I knew Merle was bound to speak soon, and I'd have to shut him up.
"Anybody out there? Hello? Anybody read?" T-dog spoke into the walkie. "I'm hopin' to hear somebody's voice 'cause I'm gettin' sick and tired of hearin' mine."
"Yeah, well that makes two of us," Merle said causing me to let out a deep sigh. "Why don't you knock that crap off? You're giving me a headache, boy."
"Merle, please." I shut my eyes, just hoping that he would keep his mean words to a minimum.
"Why don't you pull your head out of your ass? Maybe your headache will go away." T's words made me—and surprisingly Merle—chuckle. "Try some positivity for a change, damn."
"I'll tell you what. You get me outta these cuffs and I'll be all "Sammy Sunshine" positive for ya." Merle tried to bargain, but we all knew what would happen if he was un-cuffed. "Hey, see that hacksaw over there in that tool bag? Get it for me, hmm? I'll make it worth your while. What do ya say, man, c'mon. Get me outta these things."
For some reason, Merle still refused to look at me, even when I spoke he kept his eyes everywhere else but me.
"Stop it, Merle. No one's letting you out 'cept Officer Friendly." I hissed, his eyes glanced over to me before resting on the roof's cement "railing".
"I know you ain't talkin' to me, baby sister." He was clearly annoyed that I wasn't on his side.
"After that hissy fit ya pitched, and the elbow to my face, you're lucky I'm talkin' to ya at all." I glared. T-dog pretended like he wasn't hearing anything, clearly uncomfortable with the two siblings in front of him bickering.
"I didn't mean to hit ya and ya know it." He huffed angrily, but it didn't seem like he was angry with me, at least not as angry with me as he was himself.
"Really? 'Cause, ya can't even look at me longer than a second." I argued, clearly not bothered by T-dog awkwardly messing with the walkie.
"You don't know what yer talkin' 'bout!" Merle hissed, his eyes finally looking towards me, and when they did I saw it. The regret. Our dad wasn't one to put us in timeout and call it a day, he was more of an "I'll whoop ya till yer black n' blue, maybe you'll learn." But we didn't have to do much to give him a reason to hurt us, especially Merle, and when Merle left Daryl took on that role. I was fortunate enough to only get half the beatings Daryl and Merle got.
Before the argument could get any deeper, the others were walking through the door. My guess was the sewage plan didn't work out, which wasn't necessarily surprising, but it was definitely disappointing.
Morales grabbed Dale's binoculars from a bag and handed them to the cop while they all looked over the edge of the building towards the streets.
"That construction site, those trucks, they always keep keys on hand." Officer Friendly said matter-of-factly. I stood up, limping my way over as Officer Friendly passed the binoculars to Morales. I was trying my best to keep my breaths limited, because every time I inhaled, there was an aching pain coming from my chest.
"You'll never make it past the walkers," Morales said as he looked down to the streets full of the rotting bodies. I peered down at the streets and cringed, they weren't this bad when we came, but I guess a horse and someone firing rounds louder than Merle's mouth could attract a lot.
"You got me outta that tank." The Officer said referring to Glenn. My eyes snapped over to him, almost jealous. He really got to be inside of a tank and was lucky enough to be saved from the walkers surrounding it. Talk about some major luck.
"Yeah but they were feeding, they were distracted," Glenn argued, his eyes moving to mine probably knowing exactly what I was thinking. Was the tank as cool as they were in the movies?
"Can we distract them again?" The Officer asked which got my wheels turning a bit.
"Right. Listen to 'im, he's onto somethin'. A diversion like on 'Hogan's Heroes'" Merle butted in sarcastically
"God, give it a rest," Jacqui spoke out before I could, giving Merle the side-eye.
"They're drawn by sound, right?" The Officer asked ignoring my big brother.
"Yeah, they're like dogs. They hear somethin' and they come." I nodded, speaking before Glenn could. I smirked at him while he gave me a bored expression, I'm pretty sure I just stole his thunder on accident.
"What else?" This guy was pretty clueless, huh? How long has he been away from all this mess?
"Aside from they hear you? They see you? Smell you and if they catch you, they eat you."
This was like Zombie Apocalypse for dummies. I could write a whole rule and tips book by now, and if I wasn't so banged up I'd be volunteering to lead them away, even though no one would let me.
"They can tell us by smell?" This man was way more clueless than I thought.
"Can't you?" Glenn deadpanned.
"Yeah, their flesh is kind of rotting. They smell worse than Merles B.O." I teased causing him to flip me the bird. Of course, I returned it with a sweet smile before turning my attention back to the group.
"They smell dead, we don't. It's pretty distinct." Andrea said as she looked between me and Glenn.
I could see the wheels in The Officer's head turning, and I couldn't help but wonder what was going on in that head of his. He let out a sigh as if he knew what he had to do, but he just didn't want to.
><><><
"If bad ideas were an Olympic event, this one would take gold," Glenn whined as we gathered rubber gloves and anything to cover the bodies of whoever was going out there. I was already ready to volunteer.
Officer Friendly's big plan was to cover us in walker insides so we'd smell like them. A disguise. It was a great idea and I was almost jealous that I hadn't thought of it before. I mean it made sense.
"He's right. Just stop, okay? Take some time to think this through." Morales said to the determined officer.
"I can go, I'll look more like a walker than any of you with my ankle," I spoke quietly to Glenn.
"No, no way. If we have to run then you'll get left behind. If I don't bring you back I'll have two Dixon's on my ass." Glenn hissed back before a lab coat was thrown at him. He looked down at it with anxiety, clearly not wanting to be a part of this master plan.
"Glenn you don't even want to do it. I can do this." I argued with a glare.
"No, Ellie, you're not going out there," Andrea spoke from behind me. The others stared at me in shock that I even wanted to do this.
"I'm doing it," I stated before grabbing a lab coat and slipping it onto my shoulders. I wasn't one to just sit back and do nothing while lives were on the line, Glenn of all people should know this.
"How old are you, 15?" The Officer asked skeptically, reluctant to even let me be a part of this.
"I'm 17. I've been blending in and wearing camouflage since I was four. Besides if I don't go, Glenn will for sure shit his pants."
They all sighed and looked between each other, knowing I wouldn't drop this or I'd find a way to slip out without them noticing. My ankle wasn't that bad anymore-or at least that's what I was telling myself, and if I needed to run, I'd run. I'm not a helpless child.
"What do we tell Merle?" Jacqui asked as if that would be something to deter me.
"Tell him I'm keeping watch." I shrugged.
><><><
We had dragged in one of the walkers from earlier. Cut him open and put his insides all over us. It was just me, Glenn, and Officer Friendly that we're going to be traveling through the large group of walkers.
I was already preparing myself to do the growl and snarls and refused to acknowledge the stench as the others covered us head to toe in walker guts.
Glenn was complaining about how he was gonna puke while I tried not to compare the man's insides to those I saw inside a meat factory one time on a school field trip.
Once the realization set in on what I was about to do, I put on a determined face, promising to get everyone back to camp safe and sound. Even if it meant I had to run a whole other direction to lead the walkers away on foot. I promised Sophia I'd be back, so I was going to be back.
I remembered while trying to compose myself that officer-friendly handed T-dog the key to the cuffs that Merle was currently being held by, but I was too worried about hurling as Glenn did. We definitely smelled like them, and if this didn't work I was going to be both surprised, and pissed.
When we walked out of the building we all had some sort of liver, hand, or feet attached to our bodies. The guts reeked, and no matter how long we wore the clothes of literal death, the smell never let up. Which was good I guess, but my nostrils were begging for mercy.
We all stumbled out and walked like walkers the best we could. There were two walkers at the end of the alley which sort of worked as our test dummies as we walked further. Their heads turned towards us suspiciously but I tried my best to ignore them, to try to seem dazed and dead.
I nearly jumped with joy when they didn't try to eat us and went on their merry way. Hope began to rise in me that we'd get out of this and I continued to limp further.
There was a large bus blocking the way out towards the street so we got on the ground and army-crawled under it. I tried my best not to wipe any guts off into the road while trying to ignore the flaming pain in my ankle and the most uncomfortable sensation coming from my ribs.
On second thought, maybe walking through a sea of walkers with a twisted ankle and bruised ribs wasn't the brightest idea I've ever had. My stomach turned as all of their feet shuffled past us, walking aimlessly through the streets.
When we emerged from under the truck more than a few heads turned towards us, but thanks to our newly found walker stench, they turned away not realizing that we were a few sheep in wolves clothing.
The sound of thunder forced me to feel a little queasy. If rain came down, we'd for sure be in deep shit. I'm not sure how liable walker guts are in terms of being waterproof, but I'm sure that my expectations won't disappoint.
I could practically feel Glenn's anxiety wafting off of him as we shuffled through the crowd. He and Rick mumbled something but I kept my mouth shut, knowing that a single slip up could cost us our lives. A walker walked between Glenn and Officer Friendly, paying special close attention to Glenn forcing him to let out a pitiful growl. If we weren't in this situation, I'd be laughing my ass off at his awful attempt, but it was enough for her to walk away and ignore us.
It wasn't long after that when drops of rain began to fall onto us. I damn near began to curse at the clouds but held my anger in, hoping the guts would stay long enough for us to get to the construction site.
I could see the blood and guts washing away at my feet. My eyes snapped over to the other two, panic filling every inch of me as they didn't look too hot either. The walkers were becoming restless, they could smell a hint of the living on us as we trudged through the street.
"The smell's washing off, isn't it?" Glenn quietly panicked.
"No, it's not." The cop tried but failed to reassure us. "Well, maybe."
A loud growl was heard coming at us and with one swift movement, he had his ax sailing through the air, embedding it into the walker's skull and yanking it out.
"Run!" He screamed to us. Even with my twisted ankle, I was able to run faster than both of them, fear and adrenaline took over my body, the pain that was in my ankle moments ago was barely there as my feet pounded against the street.
I didn't have much, but I had my knives, and I was stabbing any walker that dared to step into my way. Using the gun would've attracted more unwanted attention and we already had enough of that. The other two did the same as me. Running and taking down any walker in our way. We had gotten a good distance with our disguise so it wasn't long before I was climbing the fence of the construction site with Glenn's worried whimpers behind me.
As soon as we got over the fence we shrugged off the now useless lab coats and booked it for the large van we'd planned to take. The walkers were pounding angrily against the fence behind us but I didn't even look before I began running for the large cube van. I heard shots behind me as Glenn went for the box full of car keys. My heart nearly dropped into my ass at the sight of walkers climbing the fence.
"Rick!" Glenn yelled as he tossed a set of keys towards the officer.
"Come on, hurry!" I yelled to Glenn as walkers began to get close to the top of the fence. He ran towards us at full speed and I saw a single walker climb over the fence as I hopped inside of the van. I leaped inside and flung myself to the back of it so that Glenn could jump in before the walkers could get him.
My heart was beating rapidly inside my chest as Rick turned the keys to the truck. It sputtered for a moment before the beautiful sound of the engine turning on was heard.
"Go go go go!" Glenn yelled as walkers banged their fists against the now-closed passenger side door.
The truck retreated backward as Rick stepped on the gas sending me flying forwards. I caught myself and flung my body to sit against the metal walls right behind Rick, forcing the wince that begged to be released down.
We made it.
I let out a relieved breath and grinned towards Glenn who was now looking to me with wide eyes. I hadn't noticed that the fence had completely given out to the weight of the walkers, but for now, we were safe inside of the vehicle which was enough for me.
"Oh my god—Oh my god. They're all over that place!" Glenn panicked as we drove away from the pack of wolves.
"You need to draw them away. Those roll-up doors at the front of the store, that area? That's what I need cleared." Rick spoke quickly, seeming as calm as he possibly could be in a situation like this. "Raise your friends. Tell them to get down there and be ready."
"W-Wait how is he supposed to draw all those dead ones away?" I spoke quickly as the road passed by in a flash.
"Noise," Rick answered shortly before turning his attention back to the road.
We drove to a fairly empty street and my mouth nearly drooled at the car Glenn was gonna get to drive. Rick grabbed the crowbar that Glenn was previously using and hopped out of the cube van. We all made our way out towards the car, Glenn was staring in awe at the red beauty. Rick brought back the crowbar before shoving it at the driver-side window with all the strength he could muster. The window broke under the pressure and a loud piercing alarm began to go off.
Glenn's hands shot out, covering his ears as he worriedly looked around while Rick continued to break the rest of the window. Poor baby.
Rick swung his arm inside before sitting down and using a screwdriver to get the car started. Luckily the loud siren didn't stop and I ran over to the other side to hop in. I wasn't passing up the chance to ride in this beautiful baby.
"Remember the plan," Rick said sternly before running to the escape van and hopping inside.
A big grin made its way onto his face as he sat inside the Dodge Challenger and shut the door. His hands gripped onto the wheel as he looked around inside the car.
"The hell ya waitin' for? Let's go!" I yelled excitedly causing his grin to get wider before stepping on the gas and making his way back towards the department store.
The loudness of the car was gaining a lot of attention, but we weren't even there yet. Luckily there weren't many walkers on this side of the city as we zoomed down the streets. I've never ridden in a car this nice before, and I couldn't help but thank the apocalypse gods for this chance.
We drove behind Rick, ready to lead away from the crowd. Glenn handed me the walkie from his pocket and I quickly began to speak through it.
"Those roll-up doors at the front of the store facing the street, meet us there and be ready!" I yelled over the loud siren. We passed by Rick and I sent him a wave as we drove by.
We nearly missed the street before Glenn slammed onto the breaks damn near sending me straight through the windshield.
"Jesus! A little warnin' next time would be nice!" I winced causing him to smile apologetically.
"My bad.." he mumbled before putting the car in reverse and driving back into the street. If this was how he drove, I definitely needed a seatbelt. I strapped myself up as walkers began making their way towards the car. The fact that Glenn's window was busted open sent my nerves spiraling.
We waited a moment for the group to get closer and when they did he began to back up a little. "Get closer, get closer. Come on!" He mumbled towards the walkers as they stumbled towards us and banged on the car.
Soon he was backing up at full speed with their full attention on us. My stomach did flip-flops as I stared into the eyes of the dead. Glenn drifted the car until we were facing the opposite direction and I was glad that I decided to put my seatbelt on.
We zoomed off at high speeds leading the geeks away. I caught sight of Rick putting the van to the building and my heart leaped.
"He made it!" I yelled excitedly as Glenn drove as fast as he could. The sound of the engine and the siren together was pretty damn loud, so the walkers were pretty distracted by us.
I noticed his excitement as he turned corners, drifting carelessly, and drove faster than ever. The excitement got to me and I let out a laugh as he drifted the last corner to get out of the city.
"We did it!" I screamed causing Glenn to let out what seemed to be a victory cry. My smile reached my eyes as the world passed by in a blur. I had only hoped that everyone was able to get out and into the truck. We weren't able to distract every single geek but we distracted most of them, I just hoped it was enough.
As we passed under a bridge and drove at full speeds towards camp, the wind blew through my hair from Glenn's open window, and despite the problems we had today, yesterday, the day before, I was still happy that I was alive to experience this, a moment of fun, a moment of victory.
"Woohoo!" I yelled as I threw up a victory fist into the air.
"Yeah! Ya-hooo!" Glenn yelled as he slammed his hand against the steering wheel excitedly.
"WA-HOO YEAH!"