ch.5

tell it to the frogs

   me and rick walked slightly behind shane who was following daryl, "merle! get your ugly ass out here! i got some squirrels. lets stew em up." daryl yelled to his brother, who wasn't even around because of me and rick.

   "daryl, just slow up a bit. i need to talk to you." shane announced, causing daryl to turn around and face towards our direction. i placed my arms over my chest, ready for the worst.

   "there was uh-- there was a problem in atlanta." shane muttered, turing to face daryl. "he dead?" daryl questioned shane, who shrugged, "we're not sure."

   i could sense daryl was getting angry from the tone in his voice, "he either is or he ain't!"

   rick glanced at me, causing me to shake my head, already knowing what he was about to say and do. i stepped to grab his arm and pull him back, but glenn stuck his arm out in front of me, stopping my actions.

   i sent him a weird stare, stepping back into the place i was a couple seconds ago. "no easy way to say this, so i'll just say it." rick stated, slowly walking towards daryl.

   "who are you?" daryl questioned, his eyes wondering to me, probably thinking that we were together. "rick grimes."

   "rick grimes, you got something you want to tell me?" daryl sneered, coming off tough, his figure, outfit, and accent fit the part pretty well too. "he was a danger to us all. so i handcuffed him to a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. hes still there" rick informed daryl, who turned away to wipe sweat off his forehead.

   out of the corner of my eye, i realized tdog walk into the circle, holding a stack of wood. he glanced towards me, questioning me with his eyes. i just shook my head, looking back to rick and daryl.

   "hold on, let me process this. you're saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you left him there?!" daryl shouted, surprising me when he almost choked on his words.

   "yeah" rick said blatantly, sending daryl into a tizzy. i watched as the rope of squirrels flew across the sky, and before i could even blink, shane was tackling dixon to the ground.

   me and tdog stepped forward a little, noticing daryl pull a knife from his belt loop, "watch the knife!" i yelled to rick, soon amused by seeing shane hold daryl in a headlock. "choke holds illegal" daryl sneered, still trying to fight.

   "you can file a complaint" shane joked sarcastically

   "what i did was not on a whim. your brother does not work and play well with others." rick stated, causing tdog to step up, "it's not ricks fault, i had the key. I dropped it."

   knowing what daryl was going to say, i slowly walked to where rick stood, ignoring glenns warnings. "he dropped it in a drain, and ill take the blame. i should've stayed with t dog until i knew merle was free." i informed, watching his eyes dart to me.

   he scoffed, "was that supposed to make me feel better? cuz it dont." daryl started, pulling himself to stand up, "who even are ya?"

   "melanie grey, nice to meet you too." i replied sarcastically, watching him move towards tdog. "look, i chained the door to the roof, so the geeks couldn't get at him. with a padlock." tdog assured daryl, who was starting to calm down.

   there was a pause, silent engulfed the camp as we stared at dixon, waiting for his next move. "hell with all yall! just tell me where he is, sos i can go get him" daryl uttered, holding back tears. I honestly felt bad for him, i would be even more pissed if that were my sister up on that roof.

   "he'll show you. isn't that right?" lori muttered, disappointed at ricks choice to go back.

_____________

   "so you and daryl, that's your big plan?" lori questioned, causing me to shift uneasily. rick took a deep breath, turing towards where me and glenn stood. "oh, come on." glenn groaned, throwing his head back.

   "You know the way. youve been there before, in and out no problem. you said so yourself." rick pleaded, i turned towards glenn, watching as he removed his hat to mess with his hair.

   "its not fair of me to ask, i know that but id feel a lot better with you along. i know she would too." rick stated, referring to lori who was behind him with carl.

   "thats just great, youre gonna risk three men, huh?" shane scoffed, placing his hands on his hips. "four." tdog mumbled

   "its not just four. youre putting every single one of us at risk. just know that rick. come on, you saw that walker. it was here. it was in camp." shane started, boring me with his words.

   i looked over to glenn who looked even more bored than i was. I smirked, pulling him away from the others. "whats going on?" he questioned, looking to make sure no one saw us.

   i shrugged, "got bored, you looked it too." i said, turning my body to look at the mountains. "im surprised you didn't wanna go." glenn stated, also turning his head to see what i was looking at.

   "i want to go, but i know rick would say no." i started, crossing my arms over my chest, "plus i should stay and get to know people."

   he nodded frowning, "wish me goodluck then."

   i smiled turning to finally face him, "goodluck, even though it's pointless. you're not gonna die." he opened his mouth to say something, only to be interrupted by daryl, "come on, let's go!"

   "see you later, glenn" i smiled, pushing him towards the truck. his facial expression had astonishment from my words and actions written all over it. he scoffed, turning away from me, walking to the truck.

   i felt a hand on my good  shoulder, causing me to take my eyes of glenn. "ill be back soon, watch over my wife and kid." rick smiled, causing me to nod, "will do sheriff."

  _______________

     i decided to push myself out of my comfort zone and get to know the women at the camp. they had convinced me to  follow them down to the creek and help them with the laundry.

   i wasn't a housewife and i wasn't planning on being one, but i knew getting to know them would make me feel better about staying at the camp.

   surprisingly, me and the other women had been getting along super well. i always had problems with making friends as a kid, i never felt the need to have one because i had my sisters.

   memories flooded my mind about my only friend through school, apollo. he was the only person i could stand during middle school and high school, we even ended up going to the same college.

   laughing  pulled my attention away from my thoughts, causing me to turn and look at the chuckling women. "whats so funny?" i heard a mans voice question them. i turned around to face the guy, giving him a weird stare.

   "just swapping war stories, ed." andrea lied, turning away to roll her eyes. the man didn't talk as he stood and watched our every move.

   "problem ed?" andrea asked, finally looking up to him. he took the cigarette out of his mouth, and looked down to her, "nothin that concerns you" he started, pausing to give her a smug look, "and you ought to focus on your work"

   i scoffed, getting ready to stand up, but before i could andrea had beat me to it. "ed, tell you what. you don't like how your laundry is done, you are welcome to pitch in and do it yourself. here." she stated, tossing a wet towel at him, only for him to throw it right back at her.

   "ain't my job missy." he scoffed, sliding the cigarette back into his mouth, i stood up, taking a place next to andrea. "what is your job, ed? sitting on your ass smoking cigarettes?" she sneered, riling him up even more.

   "well, it sure as hell ain't listening to some uppity smart-mouthed bitch." he taunted, causing my blood to boil, making me come to my breaking point. "thats fucking it." i mumbled, stepping in front of andrea.

   he scoffed, seeing how small my figure was, thinking he could take me down with one punch. "hey, don't think i won't knock you on your ass, alright?" he laughed, putting a hand out, trying to push past me to get to carol.

   i shoved his hand away, causing him to drop his cigarette. i started to push on his chest with my fingers, backing him up and away from the other ladies. once he was far enough away, i didn't hesitate to punch him hard, straight in the face.

   he turned his head slowly back, holding his busted lip, blood gushing everywhere. he sent me a dirty look, and before i could even react, his hand landed on my bad shoulder, squeezing it super hard.

   i looked to see blood gushing through the bandage, and when i went to turn back around, a hand flew aross my face, causing me to whimper in pain.

   i could hear the screams from the other women behind me, but i ignored them. i swung my arm straight up, hitting his nose bridge super hard.

  his head flew back, causing his whole body to almost fall to the ground but he steadied himself. he scoffed again, shaking his head at me, "wrong move, sweetheart"

   my eyes shifted behind him, seeing shane fast walking towards where we stood. I was stupid for taking my eyes off ed, because the next thing i knew, i was lifted off my feet, and thrown to the ground.

   I yelped, feeling pain shoot through my whole body from the impact. a loud ringing rang through my ears as i tried hard to keep my eyes open. two faces appeared in my view, it looked like shane and andrea.

   "im okay" i slurred, feeling someones hands wrap lightly around my head.

   i felt my world go black for a bit, until i felt someone harshly shake my body, causing my eyes to slowly flicker open. my eyes adjusted to the sun, and soon focused on the blonde girl in front of me.

   i slowly sat up, pulling my body out of her grip. the ringing no longer rung, and the only thing i heard were sighs of relief. "jesus, melanie. you can't being doing shit like that." i heard shane groan from behind me.

   andrea smacked his arm, helping me stand up, "pretty stupid, huh? i stood up to an abuser and i don't regret it" i stated, informing shane on why i did what i did.

   he paused, shaking his head, "one tough son of a bitch" he mumbled, causing me to grin, watching him walk away from us.

   "come on, let's get you cleaned up." andrea instructed, swinging my arm over her shoulder. I watched as she motioned for amy to get the other side, which she didn't hesitate, running over to my other side._______________

   after getting cleaned up, i stepped outside the rv.  along with andrea who helped a lot, and i made sure to thank her thoroughly. dale patted down for me to sit next to him while we ate and waited for the others to return.

   i smiled, departing with andrea as i took a seat next to him. he leaned over, starting to whisper in my ear, "glenn will still think you look beautiful."

   i pulled away quickly, giving him a suspicious look, "glenn? are you okay, dale?" i questioned, honestly concerned for his health. my words caused him to chuckle and shake his head, "youll find out soon enough."

   i gave him the weirdest look, opening my mouth to talk but was interrupted, "we're out of toilet paper?" amy questioned, causing me and dales head to turn.

   my eyes widened, seeing multiple walkers roam near the rv, "amy, watch out!" i shouted, making the others heads turn quickly. she didnt act or move, she only watched and screamed as the walker took a chunk out of her arm.

   my hand flew up over my mouth, watching the horrific scene take place. screams of terror took over the camp, people were running and panicking every way i looked. "melanie!" shane yelled, my eyes shooting to his.

   "you know how to use one of these?" he asked, holding out a handgun, i nodded taking it from his hand.

    i raised it without a thought, aiming and shooting walkers who were close. i ran in the opposite direction of shane, covering different parts of the camp. my eyes spotted a small girl, sitting with her legs to her chest, tears of fear running down her face. "sophia!" i shouted, grabbing her attention.

   i ushered her to me with my hand, pulling her close to my body once she was in reach. "come on yall! work you're way up here!" i heard shane yell from a distance, only we were cut off from them.

   "shit, okay." i mumbled, pulling sophia with me into the woods, "we'll find your mommy and the rest once i know you're safe, okay?" i informed, causing her to nod through the tears.

    "i promise that you will always be safe with me and i'm going to find a way back."

________________________________2/9/2021