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"Hey, you two alive in there?" The man's voice questioned through the radio again, loud and clear.
"Yeah we're here!" Tessa sprung into action, bounding over to the radio. Her heart hammered in her chest as she listened for the man's voice, Rick reaching her side as he began to speak again.
"There you are. You had me wondering." The man breathed a sigh of relief and a light gasp slipped through Tessa's lips. She had yet to get used to the sound of other people's voices again. It had been so long... she'd been alone for so long. Her hands shook with anticipation as she gripped the radio waiting for either Rick or the man to say something. When neither did she spoke up.
"Look thanks to Officer Einstein over here we're stuck in this damn tank. I really hope you got a way to get us out because our current situation ain't looking great." Her tone was harsh and demanding, her southern accent stronger when she swore. Rick gave her a bemused look.
"You're surrounded by walkers. That's the bad news."
"There's good news?" Rick asked as he took the radio from Tessa. She shook her head impatiently and pulled at the threads coming loose from her pants. She felt stressed at the situation and Ricks obvious lack of apocalyptic experience. The man had not a redeeming quality in his bones. She would even go as far as describing him as utterly useless.
Pulling her bag onto her shoulder Tessa ran through her options in her head. She could stay with Rick, possibly die, and then end up hours away from her hideout or she could feed him to the dead and make a run for it. Neither seemed fair or ethical. Looking back at the dishevelled officer she sighed. Despite everything it felt nice to have someone to talk to again. Rick caught her eye as she turned and an encouraging smile found its way onto his face.
"Good news?" Tessa asked. Rick shook his head and a sarcastic scoff fell through her lips. She ignored the strange look the officer gave her.
"We have to run for it."
"Oh great! Fabulous! Just damn awesome! Fuck!" Tessa slammed her fist against the wall beside her and the snarl of the dead from outside rose several octaves. Her breath was shaky as anxiety seeped into her stomach. There was not much she valued anymore but her life was definitely her most important asset.
"So what's the plan?" She asked, pushing aside her trivial fears in search of an answer that could settle her stomach. She did not receive one. Rick began talking a hundred miles an hour explaining a plan that was almost certain to get them killed. Luckily for Rick the dead would kill him before she got a chance to.
"Look there's an alley up the street. If we can make it to that without dying the man on the radio agreed to help us. I know I've given you no reason to trust me so far but I need your help with this. Please. I'm just asking you to trust me for five minutes so that neither of us die today. You get it?"
