Out of the Woods (The Walking Dead) PART 2

Chapter 12

Out of the Woods (The Walking Dead)

A:


The woods were a tricky thing. It was so easy to get lost in them. From the trees to the leaves that piled on the ground, it all looked the same. After a while, it didn't feel like she could find her way out and escape. It was easy to go mad in there. It was easy to sit there and think about the life that could've been.

"Now ain't that a stinkin' pig sack," She knew that voice. She had been sitting up against one of the trees staring endlessly at one of her knives in her hand. She thought a lot about whether or not she could cut herself open with it. She wasn't sure what stopped her every time. Perhaps it was that innate instinct to survive. Or perhaps it was something else.

"Merle?" Suzy turned her head at the sound of his voice. Instantly she stood and put her knife back with the others on her belt. She ran up and threw her arms around his waist as tightly as she could. 

"I missed you," She muttered, trying her best not to cry in front of him. He hated when she did that.

"What are you doin' out here?" He asked. His tone bothered her. He sounded disappointed. Why was that? This was what they were supposed to do when they escaped; live off the land with no one else but each other. That's the way it always was since the beginning. All they had was each other.

"I just-" Suzy repeated, "I missed you."

He couldn't help but do that snide grin when she said that, "Ain't you thoughtful."

"Suzy," Rosita said, jolting Suzy out of her sound sleep, "Come on, it's time to go."

Suzy almost forgot what actual sleep felt like. Perhaps it was because she was surrounded by people she trusted or her body couldn't take anymore and knocked itself out, but that was the best sleep she'd had in months. Rosita had to shake her for five minutes to wake her from it. When she got up, the group was already set to go and was grabbing the last of their gear. Rosita informed her that they all had breakfast already and didn't want to wake her or Tara. Suzy and Tara had to eat their canned fruit cocktail as they walked (or in Tara's case-limped) with the rest.

Everyone was quiet for the most part, even Eugene for once. Abraham was leading the way down the tracks with his AK-47 in his hands. Suzy remembered everyone's dismissiveness of what she had to say of this plan. She pursed her lips in thought as she stared at the back of his red head. Tell him off or play nice and keep it to myself? She hadn't considered something like that in a while, she realized.

"Hey-" Suzy quickened her pace to catch up to Abraham, "Are you sure we thought this through enough? I thought you trusted my judgement."

"When did I say I didn't?" Abraham held in a chuckle and looked down at her small frame with that amused smile before looking back at the path ahead, "It's not only yours I need to listen to. Eugene's a smart man, I need to trust what he says and thinks too."

"Yeah, but-"

"My first priority is to keep that man safe," Abraham said, "I heard what you said. At the first sign of anything goin' wrong, I believe we can fight our way out. You need to trust me, too."

"I actually already do," Suzy was surprised to realize that was true. After all this, she trusted him a lot. She thought she trusted Abraham and Rosita with her life. 

Only time in Terminus will tell how long that would ring true.

"I just hope you're right." It was then she noticed something on the ground next to the tracks. Suzy strutted ahead and picked it up. It was a long stick almost as tall as her.