Red Stains

Chapter Three

Day 28

"So who's all going on this run Glenn?" I ask as I pull my back pack over my shoulders, pulling the straps tight. My knife sits loosely on my hip and I have my hair pulled up in a tight high pony tail.

"Well, me, you, Jacqui, Morales, Andrea, T-Dog, oh and that guy Merle." He says, loading his gun slowly. The sun was barely rising above the horizon and there was a serenity in the silence around us. Silence was such a strange and new thing that came with the apocalypse. No airplanes, no cars, no constant buzz of electricity. If you heard a car it was possible hope or possible fear. And who knew if we'd ever hear electricity again.

I see Andrea emerge from her tent she shared with her sister Amy, who then follows sleepily. They hug and Amy waves bye somberly, obviously very worried.

Dale stands next to Glenn, silent, but we make eye contact and he smiles gently. Dale was a silent man unless he had something to say, other than that he sort of just always seemed to be contemplating things in his mind.

Everyone finally gathers around Glenn and he begins to point out where we are going and what we are doing, but I don't pay much attention. My eyes wonder over to the very edge of camp, where I spot Daryl sitting over a pile of squirrels and rabbits. Apparently he was very good at hunting, and that meant meat, which we haven't had much of.

His hands work quickly, tearing and cutting, seemingly very meticulous work. As if he feels me staring he glances up quickly and we make eye contact. I look down at my feet just as quickly and feel my face warm. That was awkward.

"Okay, Elizabeth, are you ready?" Glenn's voice snaps me out of my thoughts and I nod. "Just following your lead boss." I mumble and he nods, holding eye contact with me for a moment.

We begin to walk, nearly jogging. Everyone is on edge. My hand rests over the holt of my knife, and I take deep breaths as I run. Being out in the open was frightening, no doubt. I hadn't been outside the camp once since we started, my adrenaline was pumping. I hadn't seen how anything looked since we left that highway.

As we run, we pass run down cars, broken windows and flat tires, tore up seats. Red stained the ground, from dead or alive we could only guess. After about 15 minutes the city's skyline is in sight and after another 15 we reach a fence, just on the outskirts of town.

"This is the place. It starts off as a couple little buildings then we reach a long alleyway. We turn right at the cross and there's another fence we can jump, then we have access to the malls bay, the place they get all their orders..." he trails off, realizing he was rambling. "Merle is already on the roof and has a walkie talkie, he will be our eyes as soon as we get to that alleyway, the walkies will connect." Everyone nods.

Glenn reaches into his bag and pulls out fence cutters, breaking the chain link fence just enough where we can squeeze through and get to the other side. One by one, everyone is through. We all follow wearily, eyes peeled for any unwanted movement.

When we reach the alleyway Glenn had mentioned, I spot a walker slumped over on the wall, who then spots us and goes to get up. "Got it." I whisper, and do as Daryl taught me and slide the knife into the walkers skull quickly. Crunch. May never be able to get used to that noise.

Glenn slaps my shoulder. "Good job."

I smile and notice Andrea is looking on, then rolls her eyes. Not sure what her problem is, but I don't let it bother me.

The walkie talkie chirps and Glenn turns it down relatively low. "Place is empty, squinty. Y'all are goodddd to gooo..." the accent is heavy country, almost funny. "Squinty?" Glenn whispers, looking around at everyone. Andrea chuckles then, shaking her head. "He's talking about you." She states, and I cover my mouth to stifle my laugh. "Yeah ha ha." Glenn says sarcastically.