What Lies Ahead • the walking dead ¹

3 • Atlanta's problems

Merle had insisted on walking by himself, which Alexa was grateful for seeing as the man was rather heavy. The duo snuck towards the train tracks on the outskirts of the city. Again everything was eerie quiet, the only sound being Merle's heavily labored footsteps. Alexa was a little ways ahead of him, encouraging him to move faster whenever she stopped to look for walkers.

"Slow down girly, I can't move like you." The man hissed as he caught up with her once again. Alexa rolled her eyes, she had agreed to help him get out of the city before they went their separate ways. And the sun was just starting to go down, making the girl eager to leave so she could return home.

Alexa hated being out after dark, she didn't like the idea of Chase being alone at night. It was hard since the days felt short, while the nights were long and tedious. No to mention Alexa had a decent journey to get back home. So she wanted to get Merle out of the city quickly and quietly.

Alexa peeked out of the alleyway, only spotting a few walkers and estimating the tracks were about two blocks away she figured they could make a run for it. Assuming Merle could run, that is. She signaled the man to follow her, which he did, swiftly the duo made it down half a block. Down one block. Shit... Walkers.

"Shit!" Alexa said under her breath, turning around she slammed right into Merle.

"Uh, girly... We got walkers!"

"No shit!" Alexa cried out. Digging into her jeans pocket she snatched her Swiss army knife and flipped out its blade. "Can you fight?" She quizzed, pushing the weapon into his hand.

He nodded. Good, Alexa thought as she drew her Bowie Knife. "Clear an opening! Don't be stupid! We can't take them all at once!" Alexa shouted out commands.

This is not how she wanted this run to go. She didn't want to be surrounded by the undead, and she sure as shit was not about to die like this. Especially not next to Merle Dixon... Whoever he was.

There was no question that their only chance to get out of Atlanta was to fight their way out. Both Alexa and Merle could figure that out, so they pushed forward into the herd. Alexa had found a decent way to kill flesh eaters, a strategy. Kick the knees to knock them down, then kill the brain.

She slashed her razor-sharp knife in and out of the walker's heads, they fell to the ground, dead, dead. Each kill staining her shirt and skin crimson red. The girl's fingers gripped the blade's handle as she repeatedly sunk it into the heads of the dead. Her hair mixed with blood making stray wisps stick onto her face. Sweat beaded across her forehead from her swift movements.

Thankfully Merle was keeping up. His small knife puncturing the eyes easily, though more difficult. Suddenly Alexa felt a hand on her arm, not a walker's hand but a human hand. She turned it was Merle, he pushed her through an opening he created.

"Run, girly!" He yelled at her.

Everything was happening so fast, that Alexa couldn't comprehend anything. The dead swarmed around Merle shielding him from her view.

"Merle!" The girl yelled, still desperate to save him. Her heart was beating a mile a minute. Unable to think of what to do, she ran. Ran towards the last block. Ran towards the train tracks. Ran toward her only escape.

Merle had told her to run, she shouldn't have felt bad about it. But she did. Instant regret sunk into her blood-covered skin. She didn't hear yells, she didn't hear screams, didn't hear anything but the groans of the dead as her feet slapped the concrete.

Maybe he got away, maybe he survived. Escaped. Alexa thought as the tracks came into view. Beyond The tracks lie A fence, and beyond the fence lie the forest. That was her way out her way home. Alexa's path back to Chase.

she sprinted, she didn't care about the man at that moment, she only cared about her brother. And the fact that it was getting dark. reaching the tracks, she stopped for a second to catch her breath. Shrugging her backpack off her shoulder she began to search it for water. she had a moment, no walkers were around she was safe. But only for a minute.

The water tasted good in her parched throat, nourishing her body for the long journey home. But as Alexa's adrenaline died down the only thing that filled her mind now, was regret. Regret of leaving Merle behind. She thought of going back. Going back to help him, to save him. She didn't hear screams, he might've escaped, he might not have died.

Merle had her swiss army knife, he could still have made it. He could've still cleared a way for himself to evade the dead. Alexa didn't know. But she thought of him saying his group left him to die. To rot. she didn't want to leave him, not as his group did. Alexa still had her humanity. She couldn't just save a person and then let the same person die.

But she thought of her brother as well. Maybe if she didn't run she wouldn't be able to get back to him. Keep him safe. No. Alexa had to run she has to get home. She needed to get home. that's where she had to be.

Thoughts swirled around in her brain, unable to settle. So she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Focus. Alexa told herself. Right now she had to focus. She had to get her head on straight and not think about the man she left behind.

Like she did at the end of every run she made sure her weapons were still with her before she opened her pack. Of course, her Swiss Army knife was gone now. But she could still organize her backpack and make sure everything was in order. Sifting through the supplies she had gathered she sighed in relief.

Alexa always kept her bag equipped with everything that she needed. A change of clothes, energy bars, water, ammo, meds, and the picture of her and her siblings that was relinquished to the bottom of the bag. Alexa couldn't help but smile as her fingertips brushed against the once glossy surface of the photograph. The girl pulled out the picture, examining it closely.

The photo was taken years ago by her mother before she passed. It displayed the four Mason siblings all sitting on the farmhouse's front porch steps. Her sisters Tristan and Martha, who sat on either side of Chase, and Alexa who sat on the top step behind them all. The girl couldn't believe how young they all were, the four of them just seemed frozen in time.

Tristan with her glittering blue-green eyes, and thin blonde hair, was trapped in the body of a six-year-old. Martha and her playful green eyes, and lush milky brown hair, locked as a thirteen-year-old school girl. Chase with his head of thick brown hair, who was seven at the time, and Alexa who was older by a considerable amount of years, being twenty-two years of age.

It was funny to think that this photo was taken after the girl graduated from med school. She had been young, smart, and determined. It felt so long ago, now. Alexa pushed the memories down as she threw the picture back into its place. Flipping her pack shut with newfound focus and determination.

Alexa was about to stand, ready to leave Atlanta, but was stopped when she heard it. Heard the all-too-familiar sound of a gun.

Click.