ch.8

escaping death

we all turned, heading for the door but we didn't make it in time as we all watched the metal door close in front of us.

"did you just lock us in? he just locked us in!" glenn panicked, causing me to rush to his side, grabbing his face.

"hey. hey. you need to calm down." i pleaded, moving my thumbs across his cheek bones, trying to calm him.

"calm down? you want me to calm down?" he started, looking at me as if i was crazy, "how the hell am i supposed to do that not knowing what really happens after the timer runs out?!"

i paused, watching him go into a frenzy of words, not knowing how to shut him up. "hell with it" i muttered, smashing my lips against his.

his words and shouting stopped, shocked from my actions. he hesitated before kissing me back.

i soon pulled away, raising my eyebrows at him, "you calm now?"

he looked at me amazed, nodding his head, "calm. really calm."

i nodded, pulling my hands away from his face as i started walking to where the rest were. shit that gave me butterflies.

"h.i.t.s are deployed to prevent any organisms from getting out." jenner stated just as me and glenn rejoined the conversation.

"h.i.t.s?" rick questioned, looking nervously at jenner, "vi, define."

"hits- high-impulse thermobaric fuel explosives consist of a two stage aerosol ignition that produces a blast wave of significantly greater power and duration than any other known explosive except nuclear..."

whimpers and sobs started to fill my ears, blocking out every other word vi said. my eyes shifted to glenn, who had already been staring.

i didn't hesitate as i stepped over to where he was, pulling him into a hug. trying reassure him and myself that we'd be okay.

"it sets the air on fire." jenner started, causing me and glenn to pull away from each other as we faced him, "no pain, an end to sorrow, grief, regret, everything."

after the words left his mouth, it wasn't before the others tried busting down the door. trying to get out.

i sat beside lori, listening to jenner spew some more scientific facts, trying to change everyone's views.

"you know what's out there. a short, brutal life and an agonizing death. your sister, what was her name?" jenner asked andrea who was sitting with her knees to her chest, "amy"

"amy. you know what this does, you've seen it. is that what you really want for your wife and son?" jenner turned, questioning rick who just appeared.

"i don't want this." rick sneered

"you do want this. last night you said you knew it was just a matter of time before everyone you loved was dead." jenners pleads caused us all to fall silent.

"what? you really said that? after all your big talk?" shane asked, looking at rick in disbelief.

"i had to keep hope alive, didn't i?"

i scoffed, "that's a funny way of keeping hope alive."

"there is no hope. there never was." jenner corrected, looking between me and rick.

my eyes fell to carol who was holding sophia in her arms, "this isn't right. you just can't keep us here." carol cried out, causing me to usher sophia to where i stood.

i nodded to carol, showing that sophia was safe with me. "one tiny moment, a- a millisecond. no pain." jenner stated, only causing her to burst into more tears.

"my daughter doesn't deserve to die like this."

her words caused me to hold sophia's body closer to mine, knowing carol was right. we were being detained and pretty much sentenced to death, and we couldn't stop it.

banging caught my attention as i turned, seeing daryl pounding on the door. "stay with dale for a second, i'll be back" i whispered to sophia before walking to where daryl was.

i picked up a hatchet off the floor, swinging it at the door, showing him i was there to help. he stopped, watching me hit the door, over and over again.

"take a picture, it'll last longer" i mumbled sarcastically, earning a scoff.

"why are you helping me? shouldn't you be with your boyfriend, goody two shoes?" he questioned, his words making my blood boil.

"watch it, i'm the one with a weapon." i sneered, glancing behind me to see glenn staring between me and daryl.

a swush from beside me, turned my attention away from him, to see the doors opening, "come on!" daryl yelled, before running off.

i froze in place, not because i was waiting for the other, it was just pure luck. the others rushed to the opening of the door turning back when jackie and andrea refused to come.

"just go! go!" dale shouted, causing the others to run past me, while i stayed frozen, not wanting to leave him behind.

"no, dale" i uttered, tears brimming my eyes. i felt a hand grab my arm, trying to pull me away, "melanie, we have to go. come on!" glenn yelled

dale turned back for just a second giving me sad eyes, "take care of each other, you two."

i shook my head, watching dale disappear from my view as glenn pulled me farther and farther away.

"get down!" rick yelled, causing us both to duck as soon as we arrived at the scene. the sound of glass shattering filled my ears, surprising me at first.

we quickly made our way out of the hole from where the glass once was, running to the rv and cars to take shelter.

"wait. wait! they're coming." lori warned, pointing to where andrea and dale walked near the window.

a smile appeared on my face, turning to glenn in joy. he returned the smile, patting me on my shoulder as we watched them get closer.

"dale, get down!" lori screamed, honking the horn to catch their attentions.

glenn pulled my body to the ground, shielding my head with his arms when the explosion accurred, shaking the whole rv.

when the shaking and loud noise stopped, we slowly got up, watching the building ignite. _______________

we didn't have time to plan for where we were heading next, we were always gonna be on danger. so rick decided that we were gonna head for fort benning.

no one had fought against the idea, we all trusted him and his plans.

the cars and rv had been low on fuel, so we needed to stop and siphon gas from cars that were abandoned.

me and shane were forced to leave the jeep, due to the fact that if we were gonna get anywhere, we needed as much gas as we could get for three vehicles. so we now sat in the back of the rv.

i sat at the dining table next to andrea, looking out the window, admiring the view. "oh jeez" dale uttered, causing me, andrea, and shane to look out the front window.

"uh, maybe we should just go back. there's a bypass-" glenn started, only to be cut off by dale, "we can't spare the fuel"

i stood behind glenns chair, watching as we passed abandoned cars that had been backed up for miles. "what the hell" i mumbled, getting a bit creeped out.

a huge clank caused me to jump back a little in surprise, soon hearing the engine sputter until we came to a stop.

i swung the rv door open, seeing daryl and rick come from different directions. "hey there cowboy" i joked, earning a , "are you kidding me?" look from rick

"we can find a radiator hose here, along with a whole bunch of other stuff." daryl stated, while sorting through stuff in the back of an abandoned car.

"this is a graveyard, i don't know how i feel about this." lori mumbled, the group fell silent, glancing at each other unsure of what to say.

"all right, all right. look around y'all, gather what you can" shane instructed, walking away from everyone.

i started to wonder on my own, placing a hand on top of my gun just in case. i opened the door of a red honda civic, rummaging through bags, trying to find something useful.

"hell yeah" i mumbled, now smiling down at the set of fairbairn-sykes fighting knives. i grabbed the medium sized one, admiring how cool it looked before placing it in my holster.

a flash of movement caught my attention as i was getting out of the car, causing me to raise an extra knife in front of me.

i sighed in relief, lowering the knife when daryl appeared, "what the hell!"

he didn't say anything as he stood there, taking a peek at my find, letting out a grunt. "do you even know how to fight with knives?" he questioned, earning an eye roll from me.

"why? are you assuming i don't?" i started, crossing my arms over my chest, "is it because im a girl?"

my words caused him to scoff, "you're a tough son of a bitch, i wouldn't put it past you."

"... i only asked because you seems excited about them" daryl stated, honestly catching me off guard.

"oh" is all i said, not knowing what to say. daryl dixon wasn't being a dick to me like he usually was. he opened his mouth to most likely make a sarcastic remark, but was cut off by rick.

"melanie, under the cars." rick whisper yelled, earning a weird look from me as i continued to stand still.

i caught a glare from him, but before i could say anything i was pulled down to the ground. a small screech left my mouth, before realizing it was daryl who pulled me under with him.

"you don't listen to no one." daryl whispered, rolling his eyes at me.

i scoffed, "listen hear, buddy i-" daryl made a quick move, shoving his hand over my mouth, interrupting me.

he pointed with his other hand for me to look to the side, and once i did, my heart dropped. walkers. a whole lot of them. a whimper escaped my lips, causing daryl to hold his hand over my mouth tighter.

once my breathing was under control, daryl slowly removed his hand. we waited until it was quiet for awhile before trying to get out.

fearful screams started to ring through my ear, my body erupting with fear again, "sophia. it's sophia." i whimpered, watching daryl fully slide out from underneath the car, soon helping me.

i bolted to where lori was, only seeing carl and carol who was sobbing. "sophia, where is she?" i questioned, trying to be calm for carol.

"she was chased into the woods by two walkers, rick went after her." lori informed me, causing me to nod in response.

"we'll go and try to find them." shane stated, motioning for glenn and daryl to follow him.

my eyes watched as they disappeared into the woods, not filling me with assurance as they left to find sophia, only worry that none of them would come back. ________________

glenn and shane had came back first, and then rick and daryl a little after. no sophia in sight.

"you didn't find her?" carol whimpered, tears flowing down her face.

i looked down in disappointment, not of rick or daryl, just because i couldn't keep her safe. it wasn't my job, but it was something i had promised her back at the camp.

"you can't leave my daughter out there on her own to spend the night alone in the woods" carol pleaded, making my heart break for her.

"out in the darks no good, we'd just be trippin over ourselves. more people get lost." daryl stated, only causing carol to shake her head in disagreement.

"but she's twelve she can't be out there on her own. you didn't find anything?"

rick bent down, getting on carols level, trying to explain to her about sophia's situation. how they knew she was out there and that they tracked her until the trail went cold.

i stepped away from the rest, making my way inside the rv to catch a breath, trying to process everything. i sat down at the table, holding my head in my hands.

"hey, you okay?" a familiar voice asked, causing my head to shoot up, only seeing glenn standing by the door.

i shook my head, "i promised her i would keep her safe, and now she's gone. i let her down."

glenn rushed to my side, sliding onto the seat, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. "you can't blame yourself. it's no ones fault, and i'm sure we'll find her soon."

i buried my head into his chest, embracing the moment. glenn made me feel safe, like i had someone to count on. it was something i was trying to build with sophia, i wanted to make her feel safe too.

we both sat there for a moment, before pulling away from each other. he raised his hands to my face, lightly brushing away the wet tears.

our eyes connected, causing us to both pause, staring at each other. we both slowly started to move our heads towards each other, closing the gap between our faces.

"hey guys, we're having a group-" dale started, causing me and glenn to back away from each other quickly, "meetinggg."

"i'll meet you guys out there." i mumbled quickly, pushing past dale so i could avoid the awkward conversation.

"the idea is to take the creek up about five miles, turn around and come back down the other side." daryl started, pausing when i decided to join the conversation, "... chances are she'll be by the creek. it's her only landmark."

i nodded, starting to assemble my pack. my eyes flickered to glenn and dale, who were now just exiting the rv.

i snapped by head away, still trying to avoid their gazes, "you ready?" rick questioned, moving to my side.

my body turned to face him, nodding in the process, "ready as i'll ever be."

________________________________2/15/2021