The Walking Maze

shay's story

~

"How many walkers have you killed?"

"A lot."

My parents were the first.

"How many people have you killed?"

"One."

My best friend.

"Why?"

"Because he asked me to."

Because he got bit.

~

"What's your name?" the man in front of me asked. There was one other person in the room- a black lady- and I knew she was listening even though she wasn't looking at me. Instead, she was wiping the guts off her sword with a towel and sliding them into a rusted metal bucket.

"My name's Shay," I muttered, my eyes darting around the room as I spoke. I was in the common room of a prison, and that was all I knew. I remembered being in the woods and getting knocked out, but that was it about it. I woke up on a cot earlier with some old guy watching me sleep, the same one that talked to me at the moment.

"Suits you. My name's Rick," the man, now Rick, leaned back in his chair and relaxed a little. "What's your story?"

"Why?" I scoffed made a face. My story, even before all of this, isn't pretty.

"I need to know that I can trust you," Rick said, looking me in the eye. I could see that he'd been stabbed in the back before, so I obliged. I hadn't trusted someone in ages though, so it was hard to finally open up.

"Get comfortable," I said. "It's a long one."

Rick nodded and gestured for me to go on. I sighed and closed my eyes, taking a deep breath.

"The day the whole world went to shit was the day I finally got out of rehab-"

"What were you-"

"Ecstasy. Anyway, my parents drove me home and I locked myself in my room. Woke up a few hours later, ended up killing... killing them." I stopped to take a deep breath. I'd only told one other person the story, and he wasn't around anymore. "I was wandering around with a kitchen knife for a while until I bumped into some guy running from the Infected-"

"We call 'em Walkers around here," Rick cut me off again.

"Yeah yeah, whatever. Quit interrupting me!" I snapped and rolled my eyes. "So, I ran into this guy- Daniel. We stuck together, I wouldn't've made it without him, so naturally, he got bit. He begged me to kill him to keep him from turning, so I sh-shot him in th-the h-head." I look down and wipe my eyes, sorrow filling my mind. He was my best friend and I shot him. He was holding my hand and I felt the life drain out of it as soon as I pulled the trigger.

"I'm sorry," Rick said and set a hand on my shoulder. "I have one more question for you."

"Yeah?" I sniffed and wiped the tears from my eyes.

"Do you want to stay with us?"

~

That was my first conversation with Rick Grimes, and I can assure you, it wasn't the last.